October 28, 2005
Nambu and the Nambu Interac Branch held its first ever collective bargaining with Interac management on Friday, Oct. 28 at 7:30 pm.
Paid holidays
Is a part time teacher at a “senmon gakko” (ten 90-minute classes over three days) entitled to pro rata annual paid leave?
A representative of the National Union of General Workers in Tokyo advises that, roughly speaking, those working less than 30 hours a week are eligible to “hirei-fuyo nenji-yukyu” (pro rata paid holidays).
http://www.japantimes.com/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20050920a1.htm
McDonald’s to pay millions in unpaid overtime
The decision earlier this week by McDonald’s Holdings Co. (Japan) to make up for inadequate overtime wages and nonscheduled cash earnings owed to nearly 130,000 part-time and regular-payroll workers has sent a shock wave through industries heavily dependent on employees paid by the hour.
A Tokyo-based managers’ union that has also received complaints about McDonald’s said the nonexistence of a union is one factor behind the problems with part-time workers’ pay.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nb20050805a6.htm
Berlitz Tokyo Union Protests Pay Freeze
Across the Tokyo region, Berlitz language teachers are striking. Members of the Begunto Union, the Berlitz teachers’ union in the Tokyo region of Japan, are striking against management actions regarding a pay freeze and introduction of new work contracts they see as less than satisfactory.
http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?article_class=3&no=243288&rel_no=1
Stranger in Tokyo
The size of Japan’s workforce is expected to peak ? and start falling ? within the next 2 years. But many it’s not easy being gaijin in Japan.
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2005/08/04/PM200508043.html
Suspicious minds
Japan is hoping to boost foreign investment and tourism by promoting the country as a land of hospitality. However, institutional racism and the media’s tendency to blame foreigners for rising crime means many visitors find themselves less than welcome.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,1166528,00.html
Fighting Unfair Dismissals at IHT/Asahi Shimbun
The IHT/Asahi Shimbun branch president Chie and two other branch members were recently dismissed as part of the newspaper’s continuing campaign against our union and their refusal to respect the basic labour rights of employees and the company’s legal obligations under Trade Union Law.
We had an exciting shuro seikyu, a formal written demand to be given work, to protest and refuse their unfair dismissals at Asahi Shimbun, demanding that the newspaper let our three members go back to work. The company refused, as we expected, but we will go back again on August 2nd and August 3rd. Daily delivery of shuro seikyu is an important part of fighting an unfair dismissal in Japan.
Our members were fired after refusing to sign a contract that calls for their termination after five years. The union has for years demanded they be given contracts and recognized as employees. The company calls them independent service providers, thus refusing to recognize their legal rights as employees.
Job security is a major issue for all foreign workers in Japan. A large delegation, like we had today, is a powerful display of union solidarity and clearly shows our intent to fight all the way to reinstate our members.
U.N. calls for antidiscrimination law
The government urgently needs to acknowledge that deep discrimination against minorities, Korean and Chinese residents and other foreigners exists in Japan, an independent investigator said Monday.
Doudou Diene, appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Commission in 2002 as special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, was in Japan for more than a week on a fact-finding mission.As a way to prevent further racial discrimination, a national law must be enacted, Diene, from Senegal, told a news conference at the United Nations University in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo.
Although Japan became a member of the U.N. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 1995, it has yet to establish a national law to prevent discrimination.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20050712a1.htm
Interac Demo, Round 2
June 25, 2005
Over 15 members showed up Saturday morning for the second Interac demonstration.
Interac Demo, Round 2
Over 15 members showed up Saturday morning for the second Interac demonstration. We played music (“You can’ get me cuz I’m in the union…”) and spoke for about 30 minutes, passing out our mark II Interac dispute newsletter.
We set the bullhorn again on the hillock opposite the company. Hundreds of students (probably on their way to Hosei University) passed by and the vast majority took flyers. We also took several poses, including a “j’accuse” stance with us all extending our arms and pointing to the Interac office in imitation of the Memphis balcony in the seconds after Martin Luther King’s assassination.
The day was hot but fun overall. Again the cops came (only one actually) and very politely asked us if we had a labor dispute and how long we would be. After we answered him, he left quietly.