[2020.4.12] Assistant language teachers (ALTs) in Sagamihara City will work from home beginning Monday 13th April rather than Tuesday 14th, dispatcher Interac KK told Tozen Union.
The ALT dispatch giant had planned to send Tozen members to school this week, even though the city had already suspended classes. The union demanded its members work from home instead, to help fight the virus and slow the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
During 11th hour virtual negotiations, Interac management agreed to have the teachers work from home beginning Tuesday, after commuting to the workplace one time only on Monday.
The union welcomed the concession but insisted the ALTs work from home on Monday too. “We are concerned not just for the health and safety of our members, but also anyone they could come into contact during the commute,” said Tozen Senior Organizer Gerome Rothman. Interac agreed to talk to Sagamihara about the demand and later told the school board the ALTs will stay at home.
“We appreciate Interac management’s attention to the health and safety of its employees,” Rothman said. Tozen Union demands all employers help fight the virus by paying employees full salary to work from home.
Sagamihara City is a 40-minute train ride from Shinjuku in central Tokyo. To join our union and the fight-the-virus campaign, contact Case Officer Gerome Rothman at tozen.rothman@gmail.com.
SNA (Tokyo) — Last Friday, the Covid-19 global pandemic passed the horrifying milestone of one million infections and 50,000 fatalities worldwide. There have, as of this writing, been 4,592 confirmed cases and 106 deaths in Japan. Graphs of new cases and deaths trace the left half of steep parabolas as the world’s nations fail to flatten the curve. The global catastrophe and its grim toll traps workers between the closing jaws of infection risk and dire economic straits. As US commentator Krystal Ball noted, “the working class has been shoved into the front lines of this crisis.”
Tozen Corona Hotline for Labour Issues: 050-5532-4405 （電話可能時間帯：平日の午後12時～午後8時まで） (Call between 12 noon and 8pm.) 東ゼン労組代表メール General Tozen Union email: info@tokyogeneralunion.org
[Tokyo, March 25, 2020] Yesterday, Tozen Union inked an agreement with NCC Foreign Language Institute, settling a four-year dispute.
The union and its NCC chapter sued the language school in March 2016, claiming union-busting, including cutting teachers’ classes and firing the president of NCC Union of Teachers and Staff (NUTS). Living up to its acronym, the union fought with insane commitment to the cause, with strikes, protests, and a long, grueling fight in the Tokyo Labor Commission.
Management submitted some 200 exhibits to the commission. The two sides logged 14.5 hours of sworn testimony on topics ranging from the school’s scheduling system to the case officer’s favorite baseball team (Chiba Lotte Marines).
NCC’s legal team prevailed for the most part, and the union won only one of 10 claims. But the school faced an imminent union appeal to the Central Labor Commission and two more years of Tozen’s blend of legal wrangling and street activism. With hours to spare before the appeal deadline, NCC agreed to a broad-ranging settlement.
[13 March 2020, Tokyo] Vending Machine Industry Union members working at four Coca Cola subcontractors (Sigma Logistics, Sigma Vending Service, Japan Beverage, and Okuraya) walked out Friday and protested in front of the Sigma Group headquarters building.
We at Tozen Union supported the strike and protest, along with Tobu Roso, Katsushika District Labor Council, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Youth Union. Our unions mustered a total of 80 protestors, transcending all factional differences* and working together in true solidarity.
2020年3月22日(日) 有期雇用契約で働く労働者のための５年ルール(無期転換ルール)の落とし穴を、指宿昭一弁護士が解説します。 March 22nd, 2020, our superstar activist attorney Shoichi Ibuski will lecture on the loopholes of Five-Year Rule.
厚生労働省が日本で働く外国人労働者に向けて、新型コロナウイルス感染症に関連する呼びかけを発表しました。The Labour Ministry have published information for foreign workers who live in Japan about corona virus related issues.
Keep the following labor law principles in mind regarding work furloughs ordered by your employer.
労働法上のルールは下記のようになっています。参考にしてください。
1. If your boss orders you to stay home without a legitimate, unavoidable reason, then in principle she must pay your full wages.
① まず前提として、使用者が正当な理由がないのに出勤停止を命じた場合、原則として賃金の全額を支払う義務があります。
2. Article 26 of the Labor Standards Act stipulates that “In the event of an absence from work for reasons attributable to the employer, the employer shall pay an allowance (kyugo te-ate) equal to at least 60% of the worker’s average wage to each worker concerned during the period of absence from work.” If you tell your boss you don’t feel well and she orders you to take off, then you can claim the 60%. If you teach language and your school orders you to stay home as the virus reduces student numbers, you could claim the kyugo te-ate.
You are ineligible, however, if you choose to take time off. Such absence would be treated as ordinary sick days, unpaid unless stipulated in your contract or shugyo kisoku work rules. The employer bears no responsibility if the local government orders residents to stay home from work or in the event of a natural disaster.
② 労働基準法26条は「使用者の責に帰すべき事由」があれば、会社が休業期間中の休業手当（平均賃金の60％以上）を支払うよう定めています。従業員が体調不良を申告したとき、会社が「大事を取って休んでほしい」と指示する場合は、労働者は休業手当を受け取ることができます。また、たとえば、外出の自粛で英会話の生徒が減るなどして、会社から「しばらく出勤しなくていい」と言われた場合も、勤務先の都合で休職を指示されたということなので、休業手当の対象になります。
3. You can take ordinary annual paid leave (nenji yukyu kyuka) if ineligible for the kyugo te-ate. If you are enrolled in the Shakai Hoken health and pension scheme, you can get an accident/sickness allowance (shobyo te-ate kin) beginning your fourth day off. That allowance is equivalent to two-thirds of your average salary.③ 休業手当が出ない場合、有給休暇を取得することができます。また、社会保険（健康保険）に加入していれば、4日以降休みが続けば、傷病手当金（平均標準報酬日額の3分の2）の対象になる可能性があります。
4. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on February 29 announced an aid program for parents who lose wages due to corona-related school closings. Whether the aid will pass through corporations or go directly to workers remains unclear. I will update you as soon we get more information.
5. It’s a bit trickier for those working on gyomu itaku services provider contracts and for those working on zero-hour contracts (with no monthly guarantee). If you work on gyomu itaku, then you have no protections under labor law except union rights. On zero-hour contracts, though, you can claim the above kyugyo te-ate if your schedule is pretty much set or determined in advance. If you have questions, let’s have a consultation.
Legal rights alone won’t protect you. Organize your workplace now. All workers have the right to unionize regardless of nationality. This includes people on gyomu itaku contracts.
⑦ 何か不明なことや心配なことがあれば、どんなことでもまずは東ゼン労組に連絡してご相談ください。
Contact me or Tozen Union organizers if you have any questions or concerns.
