Announcements

Cindy Sunday Success

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8月14日に開催された東ゼン主催の「Cindy Sunday」は、大成功のうちに幕を閉じました。
Tozen’s Cindy Sunday on August 14 proved an unqualified success.

Cindy Sheehanさんは、ヒロシマ、ナガサキ、オキナワ、と日本のかつての戦場を回って、各地で忙しく活動をされていました。
Cindy Sheehan had toured and spoke at WWII sites around Japan the previous week, including Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Okinawa.

初めての日本ということもあり、途中で体調を崩されたこともあったようですが、14日は、とてもリラックスした様子で、終始笑顔でした。
Although she fell ill, perhaps due the stress of coming to Japan for the first time, on the 14th she was smiling and relaxed.

また彼女は、「Cindy Sunday」というイベントの名前をとても気に入ってくれたようです。
She was also quite pleased with the name of the event: Cindy Sunday.

新宿区の大久保地域センターで開催されましたが、結局、会場は満席となり、後で椅子を追加するほどでした。
The venue at Okubo Chiiki Center filled to capacity, and we further had to bring in extra chairs.

参加者からは、たくさんの質問が出され、結局、時間を30分延長しましたが、Cindyさん、指宿さん、そして参加者も大いに楽しんでくれたと思います。
Questions flooded in from the floor, forcing us to go 30 minutes overtime. It was clear that panelists and participants alike had a great time.

なお、イベント終了後は、Cindyさんを東ゼンのオフィスにお招きして、打ち上げパーティをしました。
After the event, Cindy came back to the Tozen office for a mixer.

Shakai Hoken Seminar

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Do you know your rights when it comes to Shakai Hoken?

Learn how the Japanese social insurance system of public health and pension works starting from the laws, the directives and the differences between Kenko Hoken and Kokumin Kenko Hoken. Chances are that management has mislead you about your legal rights to proper insurance and pension.

Sunday, July 31, 2:00pm to 5:00pm

Osaka Keizai Hohka Daigaku Tokyo Azabudai Seminar House

Free Admission

[Osaka Keizai Hohka University Tokyo Azabudai Seminar House]

Directions: Take the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line to Kamiyacho, take Exit 1, and walk up the left side of Sakura Dori to Osaka Keizai University Tokyo Azabudai Seminar House (5 minutes).

Bank Organizing Seminar

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Build a union at your bank to boost your negotiating position and improve your working conditions!

Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union will hold a workshop on Sunday afternoon, January 23, 2011 to explain step-by-step how to build a labor union in Japan, how to conduct collective bargaining with management and how to work toward improving working conditions. We have been quite successful already in making real gains at the workplace of a foreign bank right here in Tokyo. We’ll answer all your questions as well. Bring a few strong, dedicated coworkers to our seminar and we’ll walk you through the process.

Sunday, January 23, 2011, 3:30pm to 5:00pm

500 yen admission

Osaka Keizai Hohka University Tokyo Azabudai Seminar House

[Osaka Keizai Hohka University Tokyo Azabudai Seminar House]

Directions: Take the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line to Kamiyacho, take Exit 1, and walk up the left side of Sakura Dori to Osaka Keizai University Tokyo Azabudai Seminar House (5 minutes).

Contract Renewal Seminar

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Do you know your rights when it comes to contract renewal?

Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union will hold a seminar/panel discussion on Sunday afternoon, January 23, 2011.

We will discuss the issue of contract renewal/non-renewal and your rights when your employment contract terminates. We will also explode several myths related to the fixed-term employment such as that after three years you are automatically considered permanent. We will open the floor for all your questions to be answered by our team of legal experts including union lawyers Shoichi Ibuski and Keiko Kato. Finally, we will give you suggestions for how to escape “permatemp” status.

Sunday, January 23, 2011, 1:00pm to 3:00pm

Free Admission

Osaka Keizai Hohka University Tokyo Azabudai Seminar House

[Osaka Keizai Hohka University Tokyo Azabudai Seminar House]

Directions: Take the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line to Kamiyacho, take Exit 1, and walk up the left side of Sakura Dori to Osaka Keizai University Tokyo Azabudai Seminar House (5 minutes).

GESS Who Just Got Sued?

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Last Friday at the Tokyo Labor Commission, Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union sued executive search firm GESS International for Unfair Labor Practices under the Labor Union Act (Act No. 174 of June 1, 1949) for repeatedly refusing collective bargaining with the union.

(Unfair Labor Practices)

Article 7. The employer shall not commit the acts listed in any of the following items:

(ii) to refuse to bargain collectively with the representatives of the workers employed by the employer without justifiable reasons

Are you working for or being headhunted by GESS International? Only if you are are a member of a trade union do you have the legal right to collectively bargain with your employer to improve your working conditions.

Join the union today!

Lawyer putting foreigners first

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Goal to provide access to legal advice for all

Masako Suzuki has dedicated her career to giving legal support to foreigners living in Japan. Starting Monday, she will become the first head of the new Section of Legal Assistance for Foreigners at the Tokyo Public Law Office.

The section will specialize in giving legal advice to foreign residents on both criminal and civil cases, ranging from refugee assistance and visa applications to divorces and labor issues.

“With the diversification of nationalities of foreigners in Japan, legal service has become limited,” Suzuki said. “Foreigners living in Japan are also members of society supporting the country, and they must not be left behind.”

Suzuki also serves as secretary general of the Lawyers Network for Foreigners, a group of 833 lawyers nationwide working on various issues related to foreigners that was founded in May 2009. And the setup of the new legal section at the Tokyo Public Law Office is a part of their activity to increase the number of lawyers specializing in foreigners’ issues as well as improving the quality of their legal service.

Commemorating the new division, free legal consultations will be available for foreigners on Sunday at the Tokyo Public Law Office. With the assistance of the Center for Multilingual Multicultural Education and Research at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, the service on that day will be available in 13 languages including Japanese, English, French, Spanish, Burmese, Thai and Mandarin.

Meanwhile, at the new department, languages the lawyers themselves can directly communicate in include English, Japanese and Korean, but the office will provide interpreters for other languages if and when necessary.

“One of the major reasons why lawyers are reluctant to take on cases involving foreigners is the language barrier,” Suzuki said. “We’d eventually like to be able to put together a list of interpreters to provide the information” to lawyers.

The attorney said the general attitude toward accepting foreigners in Japan has become more negative now since the Justice Ministry launched a five-year campaign in 2004 to reduce the number of illegal foreign residents by half.

“Japan has become more exclusive against foreigners recently,” Suzuki said. “There is no way that I can say Japan has become an easier place to live in than before.”

But with the low birthrate and aging society, the government has acknowledged the need to bring in foreigners.

Suzuki, however, pointed out that Japan has no fundamental policy on foreigners. “I think we are in a critical state because the government knows that the country needs foreigners but has yet to establish a clear policy,” Suzuki said. “Japan needs to squarely face the issues of foreigners in Japan — without it, there is no globalization or anything beyond.”

Free legal consultations for foreigners will be available Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Tokyo Public Law Office, Ikebukuro SIA Building 2F 1-34-5 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshimaku, Tokyo. Call (03) 5979-2880 or visit www.t-pblo.jp/slaf/

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20101028f1.html

Japan’s 1st legal assistance office for foreigners to launch in Nov.

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A legal office in Tokyo will set up next week a new section specializing in providing legal assistance to foreign residents in Japan, focusing on individual needs of foreigners, the office said Monday.

The Tokyo Public Law Office will launch the section on Nov. 1, in the first such attempt by a bar association in Japan to offer legal services for individual foreigners who have limited access to lawyers because of the language barrier, lack of information and cultural differences, it said.

Although there are many multinational law offices in Japan, they mainly cater to corporations and business clients, the office said, adding that lawyers in Japan also tend to hesitate to take the cases involving individual foreigners, as many cases require detailed knowledge of the immigration law and laws outside Japan.

The public law office was established in 2002 with assistance from the Tokyo Bar Association to conduct various pro-bono activities. It said the new section is in response to rising needs for legal assistance from more than 2 million foreign residents in Japan.

Although the new section will provide legal access to residents in Tokyo and around, it will work in close cooperation with the Lawyers Network for Foreigners, a nationwide network of lawyers handling foreign cases, to reach out to residents living outside of Tokyo as well, the office said.

The new section will offer a free legal consultation by about 30 lawyers next Sunday between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. at its office in Tokyo’s Toshima Ward and via telephone in Japanese, English, Korean, French, Spanish and Chinese.

On-site consultation, which requires telephone reservation at 03-5979-2880, is also provided in Portuguese, Indonesian, Bengali, Thai, Tagalog and Burmese on Sunday.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2010/10/26/20101026p2g00m0dm010000c.html

Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union Sues Max Ali For Unfair Labor Practices

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Today at the Tokyo Labor Commission, Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union sued Max Ali (AKA Muhammed Ali Muhammed Mustafa, Japan Advanced Labor Agency, et alii) for Unfair Labor Practices under the Labor Union Act (Act No. 174 of June 1, 1949) for repeatedly refusing collective bargaining with the union and for failing to pay wages to a union member.

(Unfair Labor Practices)

Article 7. The employer shall not commit the acts listed in any of the following items:

(i) to discharge or otherwise treat in a disadvantageous manner a worker by reason of such worker’s being a member of a labor union, having tried to join or organize a labor union, or having performed justifiable acts of a labor union; or to make it a condition of employment that the worker shall not join or shall withdraw from a labor union. However, where a labor union
represents a majority of workers employed at a particular factory or workplace, this shall not preclude an employer from concluding a collective agreement which requires, as a condition of employment, that the workers shall be members of such labor union;

(ii) to refuse to bargain collectively with the representatives of the workers employed by the employer without justifiable reasons;

Also see: Tozen ALTs Sue Muhammed Ali Muhammed Mustafa For Unpaid Wages

Are you an ALT working for Max Ali (AKA Muhammed Ali Muhammed Mustafa), Japan Advanced Labor Agency, or Japan Advanced Labor Staff Services (AKA JALSS)? Only if you are are a member of a trade union do you have the legal right to collectively bargain with your employer to improve your working conditions. Join Tozen ALTs today!