Labor Update Bulletin #126 (11/2021)
This bulletin contains information on law changes, government discussions, court decisions, and other labor issues in Japan.
We hope that some of this information will also be of interest to activists, supporters of the General Union, and those who want to know more about labor issues in general in Japan.
Upcoming Solidarity Events
T
he General Union has grown a lot in the last year or so and with that growth come more responsibilities for us to participate in the larger labour movement around us. We hope that you can participate in some of these important actions.
If you can attend any of these actions by using the form at the end of this article.
1. Sanken Electric Tuesday, 16 November at 12:00 in Umeda (Osaka)
Solidarity Protest Action to Support Dismissed Workers at a Japanese company in Korea.
2. Arrested at Sanken Electric Tokyo Rally and Held for Over Four Months
Petition to demand the swift release of our Zenrokyo brother, Mr Ozawa.
Download fillable PDF petition (English translation on pg. 2)
Questions for GABA Corporation
As we enter the winter of 2021-22, the General Union continues to raise issues with Gaba regarding COVID-19, health and safety in the workplace, and transparency.
As of mid-October 2021 the official COVID cases in Japan have dropped, although deaths are still averaging dozens a day. Gaba has improved its protective measures over the last year and a half, which is good to see. It placed signs about correct mask-wearing, corrected clients who didnt wear masks correctly and required everyone in the LS to wear non-woven masks for better protection.
Unfortunately, the fifth wave of summer 2021 saw a large spike in cases, with not all serious cases able to be hospitalized and many deaths, a number of which should have been prevented. There were a number of cases related to Gaba Learning Studios. While the fifth wave has subsided, COVID has not disappeared, and the authorities are preparing for a possible sixth wave.
Kyoto Gaidai Takes Hardline Against Teacher After Cancer Diagnosis
Kyoto University of Foreign Studies (Kyodai) has a policy of forcing teachers who have underlying conditions or are sick to either risk their life teaching face to face or to stay home and basically lose their job and means of making a living. Two union members have already ceased working there due to the harsh policy.
(David has recorded this video outlining his experience. He is currently in hospital having major surgery.)
This contrasts with most other universities in the Kansai area which have allowed online teaching options for teacher's with underlying conditions. Kyoto Gaidai has had one of the harshest approaches in the region. Two union members have already had to cease working when faced with this choice.
General Union ECC Branch: Solidarity & Action Online Rally
The ECC Branch of the General Union has called two strikes for 30 October and 6 November and will be holding a Rally for Solidarity and to Call Out ECC on Sunday, 17 October at 10am and 8pm.
ALL General Union members are urged to come for a show of support for their union mates at ECC.
The General Union ECC Branch is the largest branch in the General Union. As such, they have played a pivotal role in shaping the fight for eikaiwa workers’ rights in the language teaching industry in Japan.
A victory for the GU anywhere is a victory for union members everywhere! Showing that we stick together wherever we work, puts all employers on notice!
Union-led Progress at Nagoya International School
The General Union is currently in a dispute with Nagoya International School over a member who was non-renewed after filing a sexual harassment complaint and declaring union membership (read more). Since then, the Union has engaged in collective bargaining with the school as well as filing a suit against them at the Osaka Prefectural Labour Commission. This pressure has precipitated changes in the workplace.
Prior to the union's involvement, Nagoya International School had had many questionable labour practices in addition to the mishandling of the sexual harassment case, but after negotiations with the Union, workers at Nagoya International School have won the following:
Shots at Eikaiwa
In early July, Before the vaccine supplies issues occurred, we sent a letter to the six main Eikaiwas AEON, Berlitz, ECC, GABA, Nova and Shane recommending what they should do to safeguard their workers’ health and economic wellbeing during the vaccine process. We recommended getting the vaccine should be considered worktime (either paid or being vaccinated during work time) and paid time off for any side effects. This is similar to what companies such as Mitsubishi Electric Corp, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance, Yahoo Japan, Soft Bank and Mercari Co already did back in May
ECC Teachers Vote to Strike!
The ECC Branch of the General Union – the single largest workplace branch in the General Union – has voted to go on strike after ECC’s management repeatedly rejected workers’ demands centered on employee health, pay, and mandatory “holiday make-up” workdays.
The vote was held after a spirited two-hour, all-member meeting Sunday, August 30th. The broad sentiment of attendees was that ECC failed to show sympathy or even fairness for its employees at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic is endangering teachers’ health as well as creating classroom chaos with unclear and unpopular policies.
From the list of demands ranging from long commute allowances to fair treatment of non-limited term contract workers, the leading demand of unionized teachers is the abolition of extra workdays that teachers are required to do to “make up” for national holidays that fall on their normal workdays.
Click to Support The Union's Doshisha Dispute
30 August Online Information Picket
The union has received a lot of press attention around our current dispute with Doshisha, but we still need your help in publicising the information and helping us protest to Doshisha.
In a nutshell, the dispute is about (read more about the union at Doshisha)
- Age-based, discriminatory wage cuts at Doshisha University (cased filed with Kyoto District Court-Labour Tribunal)
- Unpaid wages due to pay for all work done at Doshisha Girls Junior & Senior High School (case filed with Kyoto Kami Labour Standards Office)
- Evasion of the unlimited term contract provisions in the Labour Contract Law by limiting employment to ten years.
- Failure to negotiate with the union and dismissals of union members (case filed with Osaka Prefectural Labour Commission)
You can also help us spread the word about the dispute and urge Doshisha to negotiate fairly with the union to resolve these matters by adding this story to your Facebook feed or Twitter feed.
"D"oshisha Day action dispute
On August 19th the General Union filed 5 actions against Doshisha after fruitless attempts at negotiations. After trying to the utmost to get Doshisha to negotiate, it was clear that they had no interest in offering any ideas to resolve the myriad problems raised by members.
The Union announced its intention to enter into dispute here: (https://www.generalunion.org/higher-eduction/2374-union-prepares-dispute-against-doshsisha)
First thing in the morning, we went to the Labor Commission to seek relief for 3 cases of dismissal of union members as a result of their membership and refusal of collective bargaining.
Non-renewal? 30 Days notice - no less!
Recently, a union member at a large, prominent eikaiwa was thrown a curve ball: for a variety of factors, this member was to have their limited term contract non-renewed.
As we at the General Union geared up for a fight, one of our branch officers discovered something important: the company had not given the member 30 days notice for non-renewal.
Demanding Safety at GABA
The COVID-19 pandemic is continuing with record cases in Japan, especially in the Tokyo area. The General Union believes that protecting workers health and economic position is the top priority.
So, we have submitted demands to GABA that we believe protect the health of clients, instructors and staff. As well as maintaining a livable income for Gaba Instructors.
These demands include protecting workers current rates of payment if they reduce their lessons for the purposes of safety, make the current difficult lesson cancellation system simpler and efficient, make sure air flow is at a premium, ensure covid-19 testing is done above the standards of the public health center and promote transparency for all covid19 cases at a GABA LS.
With GABA workers and the General Union working together we believe can make the workplace safer for all.
A list of the demands can be seen here.
GU vs Doshisha in the news across Japan
Between 12 and 13 August about 45 websites carried two Kyodo News stories outlining General Union plans to sue Doshisha University "Doshisha University: 30% reduction in salary for 60-year-old foreign associate professor goes to Labour Tribunal", and Doshisha Girls Junior and Senior High School, "Doshisha teachers request corrective guidance from the Labor Standards Inspection Office over 'unpaid wages'"
The articles outline the problems faced by General Union members and the union's plans to bring suit against Doshisha Educational Corporation on 19 August. On the same day the union will also file three separate unfair labour practices suits against the school for unequal treatment of union members and refusal to negotiate with the union.
Mandatory Retirement as an "Unreasonable Dismissal”
The ongoing labour dispute at Shitennoji University (IBU)
Like the rest of Japan, the General Union is facing an aging membership and issues of retirement are at the forefront of our work. As a labour union, we do not want a society where everyone is forced to work till death, but we also recognise that many of our members are part time workers with no pensions and cannot simply retire.
Many of our members, especially at universities, are on unlimited term contracts and some universities, in an attempt to undermine this employment security, have established unreasonable retirement conditions despite the status of our members as unlimited term contract workers. While there is nothing in the law that bans the establishment of a retirement age, there is nothing in the law that limits how old you can be when you apply or get an unlimited term contract. This makes it highly unlikely that a retirement age set for only one or two years after conversion to an unlimited term contract can be considered reasonable. This is because these retirement regulations would be undermining the benefits set out in the Labour Contract Law. namely of employment security.
In the case below, our dealings with the ministry of labour, is leading us to the conclusion that forced retirement, especially in cases where the unlimited term contract was granted for only a few years prior, could be treated as a unreasonable dismissal, not a retirement.
Living and not surrendering to this coronavirus crisis caused by irresponsible politics
Special resolution for creating a movement to protect human life
Osaka Zenrokyo (National Trade Union Council - Osaka)
From the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 to the opening of this conference during the period when a fifth wave is about to begin, the coronavirus crisis has reached one year. With this continuing long pandemic, it has been a long period that both the labor movement and its various activities have had to be scaled back. However, with the spread of the coronavirus, dismissals and shift reductions, loaning out of employees, and so on, the burden has been shifted onto non-regular workers and women and the number of people suffering daily hardship has increased. For this reason, this was also a year of expectation among labor unions. Amid this, to say nothing of the lack of policy from the LDP-Komeito administration, foolish plans like the GoTo Travel campaign caused an explosion of infections and people were made to suffer even further.
Working at a Private High School? .
2022 could be a dangerous year for you
SeminarDownload poster and send to a friend
The General Union represents many eikaiwas and university teachers, but many don’t know that we have a rather large contingent working at private elementary, and junior and senior high schools.
In 2022 there will be a major change in the national English curriculum guidelines. Simply put, “eikaiwa” or English Expression classes will be eliminated and replaced with a course called Logic Expression.
This could lead to a loss in work for foreign English teachers at private high schools. So far we have heard from members at two schools who have been able to give us rather concrete information.
Eikaiwa Boss Tries to Slip Out of Paying, Gets Caught by The GU
The General Union recently concluded negotiations over payment for training, winning a teacher JPY80,000. A Nagano eikaiwa required a teacher to travel from Nagano all the way to Tokyo for multiple days of work training – all without pay!
Hands Off! Don't Touch Our Koma! - Updated
Union begins survey of union members in preparation to defend 2022 koma.
Non-members also welcome to take the survey.
Every year since 2011, about this time of year the union begins thinking about our members' koma in the next year and how to prevent them from being reduced.
This is because we decided that the best way to prevent cuts in koma is not to wait till they are lost, but to act first. We do this by surveying members to check which university they want to declare their union membership to as part of our union demands for NO REDUCTION in their next year's koma. Most universities have reacted very well to this by not cutting union members’ koma.
How to apply for an unlimited term contract & protect your working conditions
The union has put out a lot of information on this topic and if you are at a university, this article will be the most helpful for you. This article is aimed more at those working in non-university jobs like: eikaiwas; private elementary, and junior and senior high schools; kindergartens, dispatched ALTs. If you are a direct hire ALT at a public board of education or a JET, this article does not apply to you.
Download the flyer here and send along to a friend.
How do you qualify for a unlimited term contract (UTC)?
Simply put and thinking of those on one-year contracts; you can apply for an UTC after you start your sixth year of employment. At this point you fill in the application, submit it to your employer, and the employer must accept it and starting in the seventh year must give you an UTC with no disadvantageous changes or no changes that you haven’t agreed to.
(if you have a two or three year contract, please see our easy to understand charts)
COVID-19 Safety at Gaba Corporation
The General Union remains concerned about COVID-19 safety measures and transparency at Gaba Corporation. The union has been raising these issues since February 2020.
The company has taken some measures to improve safety, but has refused to allow teleworking, or even for instructors to only teach online lessons in the Learning Studio and not teach face-to-face lessons.
Japan continues to experience high numbers of COVID-19 cases. As of July 1st, it has an official death toll of 14,735. 11,276 of these were in 2021, which is only half over. The spread of the more infectious variants is a concern, especially as Gaba allows clients to drink in lessons, which involves removing their mask while sitting right next to the instructor.
30th Anniversary Logo & NEW Facebook Page
We would like to unveil our new 30th Anniversary logo and welcome you to our new Facebook page. We need your likes and we are giving everyone a chance to win a free General Union T-shirt.
We have also updated our twitter account (#GENERALUNION_JP), and our new Instagram page (GENERALUNION). We will also be working on building our General Union YouTube channel (General Union).
See below for more information on how to win a free union T-shirt by visiting our new www.facebook.com/GeneralUnion.org page.
Just in Time for Summer - Vaccination Roll Out
Two months ago, in response to the state of emergency, the General Union issued a letter of inquiry to Japan’s six largest private English teaching companies (Aeon, NOVA, GABA, Shane, ECC, and Berlitz) asking them how they were going to protect the safety of their workers. Their responses were half-cooked at best, but we continued to fight to protect our members and win important concessions across Japan.
Eikaiwas and the Pandemic: Much Talk, Little Action – But we demand more!
The corona virus is something we are all sick of but with the third state of emergency in progress. We asked the six major eikaiwas in Japan what they are doing to prevent infection as well as requesting them to take measures that protect our members livelihoods in their time of need (aside from what the union had already forced many of them to do).
The six main eikaiwas we approached were: AEON, Berlitz, ECC, GABA, Nova and Shane.
Maternity and Child Care Leave Online Seminar
Are you planning to have a family or already have a child on the way? Then this seminar is for you.
The General Union will be holding a zoom seminar on Sunday, 27 June at 7:30pm discussing all things related to maternity and child care leave in Japan.
Topics include:
- Leave rights
- How to register your pregnancy
- Lump sum childbirth payment
- Maternity leave eligibility and benefits
- Childcare leave eligibility and benefits
- What happens if the birth is early or delayed
- How to register the birth of your child with the Japanese Government
- And more..
If you would like to attend RSVP your attendance here.
Download flyer for friends and colleagues.
Fukuoka City ALTs and the Mysterious Case of the Missing Millions and Thousands of Classes
Via the Fukuoka General Union, here's a short video on the situation of ALTs in Fukuoka.
We imagine that the information in the video covers a lot more ALTs than just those in Fukuoka.
Do you see your own situation in this video? Let us know - especially if you want to do something about it.
We Demand Safety First at GABA
The General Union has been raising safety issues with Gaba Corporation for many years, and this is a concern more than ever since the start of last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic began.
This pandemic is not over and is getting worse in Japan. In all of 2020, Japan's official death toll was 3,459. It is only May 2021 and there have been over 8000 (official) deaths this year in Japan.
It is impossible to social distance inside a Gaba booth, where clients and instructors are speaking in a place with poor ventilation, usually about 90cm from each other. Wearing masks is not enough especially as masks do not block all viral particles. Wearing only a plastic face shield in online lessons creates risks for others in the Learning Studio.
As General Union members at GABA our job is to reduce COVID risk and therefore reduce the risk of death or serious illness. We want to keep ALL GABA employees and clients as safe as possible.
Kobe Shoin Women's University Sued At Osaka Labour Commission
Uncooperative And Uncompromising: Kobe Shoin Wins Trip To Osaka
In the middle of a pandemic and state of emergency, Kobe Shoin Women's University did what no other university, board of education, or private company have done: they refused to hold negotiations online.
Not only did we ask for collective bargaining in the middle of a pandemic, the demands themselves were over keeping union members online after the state of emergency ended on 11 May.
Their answer? “Sure we'll meet you. Come to our university in Hyogo Prefecture after 19:00 and we'll be happy to chat."
Hands Off! Don't touch our Koma!
Union launches campaign for NO REDUCTION in 2022 koma!
Every year since 2011, about this time of year the union begins thinking about our members' koma in the next year and how to prevent them from being reduced.
This is because we decided that the best way to prevent cuts in koma is not to wait till they are lost, but to act first. We do this by surveying members to check which university they want to declare their union membership to as part of our union demands for NO REDUCTION in their next year's koma. Most universities have reacted very well to this by not cutting union members’ koma.
For example, in the 2020 academic year...
Demands sent to: 37 universities covering 125 member jobs
No koma cuts: 34 universities covering 118 member jobs
Koma cut: 3 universities covering 6 member jobs
Twice Aichi Pref Uni Has Backed Down Against the GU
Now it’s Time to Overturn the 20% Pay Cut & Win a Big Pay Rise for Japanese non-regular workers
(click the image to download a PDF for your friends)
Both Japanese and foreign non-regular workers at Aichi Prefectural University have something big in common: Twenty percent (or one-fifth) of your per-koma pay is what binds you together.
APU hopes that that they can use nationality to divide you and keep wages low, our union wants to get you together to improve your working life!
Part-Time At A Doshisha University? Your Time Might Be Limited...
The union has made some progress in negotiations with Doshisha University and Doshisha Women's College, mainly in clearing up a previously unanswered mystery: how long can a part-timer work at Doshisha?
And the answer is...
It depends on when you were hired.
Doshisha has finally clarified that those hired from 1 April 2016 are limited to nine renewals, and those hired before have no limitation on their renewals.
In collective bargaining, Doshisha maintained that all teachers had a nine-renewal limit. We finally now have a clear answer to the question.
But why a nine-renewal limit?
It sounds strange to us, and we know it sounds strange to Doshisha part-timers who were hired in 2016.
Union Pushes Back As Kindai University's Policy Of "Business As Usual" Puts Members At Risk
In February, the General Union Kindai Branch held collective bargaining session with Kindai University, during which we demanded that teachers be given the option of teaching online if they had medical conditions that put them at increased risk of contracting COVID and/or becoming severely ill.
At the time, Kindai told us that they were still uncertain of their policies for the upcoming semester, and we were alarmed by the suggestion that a medical certificate would not be sufficient and that an interview with one of their administrative staff would be required.
Then began what seemed to be a never ending effort to delay and stonewall the talks and their policy decisions in an attempt (we believe) to discourage teachers from applying for exemptions at all - and to prevent a rush of applications that they feared may eventuate if word got out that some teachers had been granted exemptions several weeks before the semester commenced.
The GU knows what it's talking about when it comes to unlimited term contracts at universities
The union has been involved at numerous workplaces dealing with universities' refusal to grant unlimited term contracts after 5 years as per the changes to the Labour Contract Law (see here for more information on this law)
Many universities are holding out by using an exception granted to the universities which lets them wait till after the tenth year to grant an unlimited term contract. But this exception ISN'T in all cases and ISN'T for all instructors teaching in a university. Famously, even Tokyo University did a U-turn on this when challenged by it's union.
Basically, the instructor must be hired under any of the three categories outlined in the "Act on Term of Office of University Teachers" (often referred to as NINKI-TSUKI or NINKI-HO) or an of the three categories in the "Act on Revitalisation of Science and Technology/Inovation Creation", and told very clearly upon hiring, in writing, which category they fall into.
Most of the universities that we deal with have usually not done this at all, or have simply written the name of the act (or other such language) in the contract.
Income Support and the Pandemic
Many workers in Japan are suffering economically from the effects of the covid-19 pandemic. There is some relief.
1. Kyugyo Teate: salary benefits that your employer must pay if there is no work for you and you are sent home.
2. Employment Adjustment Subsidy: paid to employers to cover KYUGYO TEATE payments to employees.
3. Sustainment Benefit for Freelancers: if you are a non-employee (like many members at GABA and NOVA), you can apply to receive up to one million yen in benefits.
4. Special Cash Payment: 100,000 yen subsidy available to all who were registered residents of Japan as of 27 April 2020.
Please see an explanation of the four systems at this link.
Statement of the General Union on the COVID-19 Pandemic
The General Union has received many consultation requests in regard to this pandemic.
While we are happy to report that most employers are behaving responsibly, a minority of language schools are laying off part time workers and refusing to pay the cancellation allowance of at least 60% of average wages.
Basically, they are off-loading their financial woes on those least able to afford it.
This increase in consultations has meant that we are not as quick in responding to emails and telephone calls and we ask for everyone's patience.
In a crisis situation like this, the work we do in the community as a whole is important and while member concerns are always a priority, we are sure that union members all support the vital work we are doing in the language industry, in both the for profit and schools sectors.
How To (Legally) Engage In Additional Work In Japan (FAQ)
If you live and work in Japan, you might find that your salary isn't always enough to make ends meet. Sure, you might be keeping the lights on every month, but perhaps there isn't much left over to save for a rainy day.
In these situations, a second (or third) job might seem to be the ideal solution: you have time; you need money; why not get do more work?
How do you engage in additional employment without running into trouble with the immigration office or your main place of work (and affecting your renewal chances)?
Overtime Q&A
When it comes to Japanese labor law, figuring out how much extra overtime money you're entitled to (as well as the laws that govern such things) can be a very confusing process rife with conflicting information and complicated legalese.
Luckily, the General Union is here to help you make sense of things with this handy Q&A!
Everything You Wanted To Know About Not Paying Pension
As three wise monkeys once said: "See no pension, speak no pension, pay no pension".
The topic of pension (and pension contributions) is one that tends to attract strong opinions - much to the dismay of people who would rather not think about it at all.
However, like it or not, the pension system is here to stay - so here's everything you ever wanted to know about not paying (kokumin!) pension
Labor Contract Law Amendment (Unlimited Term Contracts) Q&A
Over the past five years, in preparation for the Labour Contract Revision Law (aka "The Five Year Rule) taking fully effect on April 1st, 2018, the General Union has conducted research via direct meetings with the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Labour (MHWL), prefectural labour bureaus, meetings with lawyers, and various negotiations with employers in regards to their plans for this law.
Back in November of 2017, we also decided to take questions from members of the public (via Facebook and e-mail) and are now presenting those questions to you with our answers in hope that this will answer many of your questions about this law and how it could affect you.
