June 6, 1980, was a Friday. The Social Insurance Agency quietly issued an untitled internal memo called a naikan regarding the eligibility of part-timers in Japan’s shakai hoken health and pension program. Who could have known what chaos, confusion and frustration that single-page document would cause in the coming decades? Let’s get our hands dirty and dig through the details.
TozenAdmin
JCFL（学校法人文際学園：日本外国語専門学校）の不当労働行為が東京都労働委員会で認定されました！
2015年12月15日、私たち、全国一般東京ゼネラルユニオンJCFL支部は、東京都労働委員会で大きな勝利を得ました。
Grève à l’Institut Français de Tokyo le samedi 27 février 2016
Devant l’obstination de la direction qui n’a rien voulu entendre, et qui trouve que passer à des contrats de 6 mois en lieu et place des contrats annuels actuels ne consiste pas en une dégradation des conditions de travail – quelle ironie quand on pense que la direction de l’IFJ est constituée en grande partie de fonctionnaires de l’Etat avec sécurité de l’emploi -, les membres du SEI de l’Institut Français de Tokyo ont fait grève aujourd’hui 27 février 2016. C’était une première depuis 25 ans à l’Institut de Tokyo.
Entrée en dispute à l’Institut Français du Japon
Le Syndicat des Employés de l’Institut (SEI) de l’Institut Français du Japon à Tokyo, branche de Tozen, a adressé à la direction de l’Institut Français du Japon (IFJ), un avertissement d’entrée en dispute officielle, qui prendra effet le 26 février 2016 au soir, si la direction ne revient pas sur ses projets de précarisation générale des conditions de travail. La dispute officielle au Japon est l’étape légale nécessaire pour pouvoir conduire des actions syndicales telles que manifestations, tractages et grèves.
厚生年金未加入２００万人、７９万事業所調査へ
塩崎厚生労働相は１３日の衆院予算委員会で、厚生年金に加入する資格があるのに未加入になっている人が約２００万人に上るとの推計を明らかにした。塩崎氏は「（本来は）厚生年金に入れるのに国民年金であるならば大変な問題だ」と述べた。
Tozen Union wins victory over JCFL
The Tokyo Labor Commission ruled Monday morning that Japan College of Foreign Languages (JCFL, a division of Bunsai Gakuen) had illegally interfered with Tozen Union’s leafleting actions in front of the school. Tozen Union and its JCFL Local claimed that management sent employees out to block the union from passing out leaflets and made the union look bad.
The commission ruled in favor of the union, ordering management to cease all such interference and to post a large sign apologizing to the union at the workplace for ten days.
The victory was thanks to the relentless struggle of the local.
2 mil. employees not ‘nenkin’ enrolled
9:25 pm, January 14, 2016
Jiji Press
TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will launch a probe to identify companies neglecting their obligation to have employees join the appropriate public pension scheme, officials have said.
A ministry survey has found that an estimated 2 million people have not joined the “kosei nenkin” scheme for corporate employees even though they are legally required to do so. These people stay in the “kokumin nenkin” program for other people, including the self-employed, instead.
In Japan, incorporated businesses and sole proprietors who employ five or more people are obliged to have their workers join the corporate pension program.
Under the kosei nenkin scheme, employers cover half of the employees’ pension premiums. The workers participating in the program will be entitled to extra benefits that add to the basic pension provided under the kokumin nenkin program.
For Japan’s English teachers, rays of hope amid the race to the bottom
The major economic engines of Japan Inc. — car manufacturers, appliance giants and the like — have often been caught price-fixing: colluding to keep an even market share, squeeze competitors out and maintain “harmony.” Similarly, the commercial English-teaching business could be accused of wage-fixing: Rather than competing for talent, they have followed one another’s lead, driving down salaries to hamper career development, limit job mobility and keep foreign teachers firmly in their place.
We’ve all heard the tale of the scorpion and the frog. In a rising flood, the scorpion asks the frog for a piggy-back ride across the river. The frog refuses, complaining that the scorpion will sting it to death midway. The scorpion assures the frog it would do no such thing because they would both drown. The frog accepts the logic, lets the scorpion on its back and begins to swim.
Tozen Union Blast Past 200 Members with 20 Local Chapters
Saturday afternoon Tozen Union drove through an important milestone, 200 members with the approval of seven new members. This is about twice the number of members at the time of founding on April 25, 2010. The Tozen executive also authorized the formation of two new local unions, bringing the number of local chapters to a nice round 20.
Tozen are pushing forward on several fronts, with major disputes at Gaba, Shane and JCFL. The labour union currently have five cases in the dock at Tokyo Labor Commission, including two against JCFL and one against Shibaura Institute of Technology, which may be settled soon.
Other fights are brewing.