Attributed to Jack London:
“After God had finished the rattlesnake, the toad, the vampire, He had some awful substance left with which He made a scab.
News
Tozen Union Sues SIT over Union Busting
Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union (Tozen Union) sued Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT) Thursday in the Tokyo Labor Commission, claiming the university had committed unfair labor practices.
Would-be NTV announcer’s fate hangs on issues of morality and fraud
BY HIFUMI OKUNUKI
NOV 26, 2014
The prevalence of the employment custom of saiyō naitei (tentative job offers) may well be peculiar to Japan. As I touched upon in my March 27, 2012, column, university juniors and seniors skip class to attend work seminars, company orientations, internships and, finally, a series of tests and interviews with prospective employers.
Universities wholeheartedly approve of this shūkatsu job-hunting mania and are therefore quite lenient about attendance, assignments and other mere scholastic responsibilities. If things go well, seniors find themselves the lucky recipients of a saiyō naitei — an early promise of employment to begin the first April after graduation.
‘Maternity harassment’ verdict benefits women, men — and our humanity
Last Thursday’s Supreme Court verdict in the “maternity harassment” case brought by a physical therapist in Hiroshima was the first of its kind, overturning decades of business-friendly jurisprudence along with rulings from the district and high courts.
As I mentioned in last year’s September Labor Pains (“Mata-hara: turning the clock back on women’s rights”), the word mata-hara is short for maternity harassment, just as seku-hara and pawa-hara refer to sexual harassment and power harassment, respectively. Maternity harassment means workplace discrimination against pregnant or childbearing women, including dismissal, contract nonrenewal and wage cuts.
Tozen Continues to Grow
Founded in April 2010 with 7 locals, Tozen Union has recently reached 15 active local unions (plus two dormant ones). Our membership has also roughly doubled during the past four years, with growth accelerating over the past 15 months.
芝浦工業大学、講師のストは、第２週に入る SIT Teacher Strike Enters Second Week
「私たちは、ストライキの第２週に入りました。学生たちからのご支援と御関心は、本当に心強いです。多くの学生から話しかけられたり、質問をされたり、ホームページを閲覧したり、諦めるなという励ましの言葉もいただきました。学生らのご支援さえあれば、失われそうな職を守るまで闘い続けられると思います。」
全国一般東京ゼネラルユニオン（略称 「東ゼン労組」）
芝浦工業大学教職員組合
執行委員長 アンソニー・ドーラン
”We have moved into our second week striking. The encouragement and interest of the students has been really uplifting. Many students have talked to us, asked us questions, visited our website, and told us not to give up. With the students’ support, we can keep this strike going until our jobs are saved.”
Anthony Dolan President Tokyo General Union, Shibaura Institute of Technology Workers’ Union Branch
芝浦工業大学の講師は労働紛争に入った! ～ Shibaura Institute of Technology Teachers on Strike!
２０１３年に芝浦工業大学（ＳＩＴ）の講師は全国一般東京ゼネラルユニオン（東ゼン労組）でＳＩＴ支部を結成した。講師の労働条件の改善を目指して、大学に対して団体交渉を開いた。しかし、大学は、突然、「来年度から英語カリキュラムを変更する。来年度は改めて応募せよ。」と一方的に告げました。これはつまり、すべての組合に加盟している講師がクビになることを意味します。
In 2013 Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT) teachers formed the SIT Local at Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union (Tozen Union). The union started collective bargaining with the university to improve working conditions for the staff. But then suddenly the university announced that they would “change the English curriculum” and that teachers could “reapply for their jobs” next academic year. In other words, they will be fired.
東ゼン労組は講師の仕事を守るために何度も交渉しようとしたが、残念ながら、今まで大学は譲歩する態度がまったくない。それ故、ＳＩＴ支部の講師は、今日から、仕事を守るためにスト権を講師している。
Tozen Union negotiated many times to save the teachers’ jobs. Unfortunately the university has shown no sign of compromise. In response, the SIT Local has chosen to go on strike from today to protect the teachers’ jobs.
ＳＩＴの皆さんは、ぜひ私たちの闘いを応援して頂きたい。
We would like everyone at SIT to support our fight.
ＳＩＴの従業員である皆さん（講師に限らず）組合に加盟して下さい。
If you work at SIT (even if you aren’t a teacher), please join the union.
ＳＩＴの学生である皆さん、下記の連絡先に応援するメッセージを送って頂ければ、助かる。
If you are a student at SIT, please send a message of support for the union to the following address.
担当者：ルイス・カーレット
Case Officer: Louis Carlet
メール：tozen.carlet@gmail.com
E-mail: tozen.carlet@gmail.com
電話：090-9363-6580
Phone: 090-9363-6580
Foreign workers fear exploitation as Olympic projects gather steam
My first Labor Pains column of the new fiscal year will look at the government’s recent proposal for bringing in foreign workers.
Various proposals on easing immigration restrictions for foreign workers have been bandied about in recent years, but they were inevitably scrapped because “Japan is but a tiny island nation.” (In fact, Japan is the fifth-largest island nation in the world, after Australia, Indonesia, Madagascar and Papua New Guinea.) Incidentally, there are currently 2.03 million foreign residents and more than 700,000 foreign workers in Japan, so the country is already quite multinational and multiethnic in composition.