Asahi Shimbun covers Tozen’s Invoice System fight

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The original article can be found here.

大手英会話教室で起きたストライキ　インボイス、負担増めぐり綱引き

英会話教室「Gaba」の講師、阪崎武蔵さん（45）は、教室の運営会社から届いた一通の英文メールを見て目を丸くした。

10月1日以降も同様に取引を継続するために、インボイス発行者への登録を義務づけます――。

とてもやすやすと受け入れられる内容ではなかった。

阪崎さんは週4～5日Gabaで講師として働く。その月収の約16万円に加え、カメラマンの仕事もしているが、年収は250万～300万円ほどだ。最近は物価が上がっているから、相対的に生活は苦しさを増す。

業務委託契約、そのこころは…

Gabaの場合、運営会社は阪崎さんら講師を雇用するのではなく、英語を教える業務を委託する契約形態を採っている。それによって、講師は仕事以外の関心事を自由に追いかけることができる、と運営会社はホームページで説明している。

報酬は、レッスンサービスの対価などという形で支払われる。

消費税は売り上げに含まれる消費税から仕入れに含まれる消費税を控除して納める仕組み。レッスンサービスの対価には消費税が含まれるため、運営会社はその分だけ税控除を受けることができた。

しかし10月以降、この税控除を受けるためには、運営会社は講師から「インボイス」（適格請求書）の発行を受ける必要が生じる。

インボイスが発行できるのは、消費税の納税義務がある「課税事業者」だけ。阪崎さんら講師の多くは年間売り上げが1千万円以下で納税が免除されている一方、インボイスは発行できない「免税事業者」だ。

運営会社から阪崎さんら講師に、冒頭のメールが届いたのは今年3月。免税事業者が取引先だと、運営会社は税控除が受けられず負担が増してしまうから、講師はインボイス発行者として登録してほしい、というのがその趣旨だった。

運営会社の求めに応じて、インボイスを発行するために課税事業者になれば、これまで免除されてきた消費税の納税義務が生じる。

闘病中の母　会いに帰りたくても

阪崎さんの場合、新たな納税による負担は1回分の帰国費用に相当する。母国のアメリカではがんの治療を受ける78歳の母が待つが、会う頻度を減らさざるを得ない。

運営会社は登録した講師に対し、時間帯や講師のレベルによっては1コマの報酬を20円値上げするという。ただ、報酬の最低ラインが1500円であることを考えると、新たな負担分を賄うには不十分だという。

課税事業者にならなければ、将来的には契約を解除される道しか残されていない。インボイス制度への登録は「強制」にほかならない。阪崎さんはそう感じている。

「目先のわずかな昇給で、急いで登録させようとすることが、不誠実だと感じた。従わない者はいなくなって構わないという姿勢も悲しい」と阪崎さん。

講師の一部は7月に3回にわたり一日中授業をしないストライキに踏み切り、東京・有楽町でデモを開いて「インボイス制度に登録することを強要しないで」などと声をからした。運営会社に対しては団体交渉も続ける。

だが、進展はない。

「登録しないと契約を切るのはあまりにひどい。大好きな生徒たちのためにも続けたいが、フェアな環境でなければ難しい」。阪崎さんは現在、日本を離れることも視野に入れる。

 

新たな税負担「難しい」

ただ、運営会社側の台所事情も切実だ。「GABA」によると、同社と業務委託契約を結ぶ講師は約800人。1レッスン（40分）あたりの単価（1500～2400円）は「同業他社を上回る契約条件」だという。

同社によると、講師がインボイス制度に登録しない場合でも、半年間の契約を結べる。ただ、それは「期間中の検討猶予をもって判断いただけるよう設定」したもので、1回限り。期間が過ぎてなお制度への登録がなければ、契約解除となる。

同社は「講師が免税事業者のままとなった場合、仕入れ税額控除を受けることができない。新たに税負担をすることが、現状は難しいと判断した」という。

制度に登録した講師に対して1コマの報酬を20円値上げした狙いは、「税額負担感が強いと思われる報酬対象者に対し、少しでも負担感を軽減できれば」。

インボイス制度への導入手続きの中止を求められていることについては、「弊社としても導入にあたり講師へご理解をいただけるよう努めたい」とした。（前田健汰）

Tozen Gaba Workers Union steps up dispute for higher wages, against forced registration

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Tozen Union and its local Gaba Workers Union protested today (Tuesday, July 18, 2023) in front of language school Gaba’s Fujisawa Learning Studio.

A dozen teachers braved searing heat on the streets of Fujisawa, demanding a 200/yen per lesson raise and that Gaba stop pushing instructors to register as an “invoice-issuing business.” The language school does this to shift a new tax burden onto its low-paid teachers who would have to pay consumption tax they are currently exempt from paying. The company threatens lower pay and even firing to those instructors who fail to comply.

The company already treats instructors as private businesses on gyomu itaku contracts in order to avoid all obligations under labor law. The company claims to outsourceg its main business – teaching English. It’s not clear then what Gaba does as its business.

Gaba instructors have not had a raise since 2008, and and need one now more than ever due to recent inflation.

For more info on how to support us, contact union rep Louis Carlet at tozen.carlet@gmail.com.

Oser s’opposer au licenciement abusif du Lycée Français International de Tokyo!

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～Avis de licenciement adressé au personnel de la cafétéria qui préparait les repas des élèves depuis des décennies…

En décembre 2022, deux membres de la branche UPL du syndicat Tozen, qui préparaient depuis longtemps les repas pour de nombreux élèves à la cafétéria du Lycée Français International de Tokyo (LFIT), ont soudainement perdu leur emploi l’année dernière.

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EIFJ de Tokyo : syndicat Tozen

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La branche syndicale EIFJ Tozen a pour objectif principal de faire en sorte d’améliorer les conditions de travail de tous les salariés employés à l’EIFJ de Tokyo.

Depuis le mois de janvier 2022, notre syndicat s’est déjà investi à plusieurs reprises auprès d’employés et ex-employés de l’EIFJ afin de défendre leurs droits ou d ‘exiger des réparations de la part de la direction de l’EIFJ.

Notre syndicat est très attaché aux droits des salariés et au respect de la législation japonaise. Nous restons très alertes concernant ces derniers points et interpellons régulièrement la direction de l’EIFJ pour qu’elle tienne ses engagements.

Nous invitons tous les employés ou éventuels futurs employés de l’EIFJ de Tokyo à prendre contact avec nous s’ils souhaitent être conseillés ou accompagnés dans leurs démarches.
Vous pouvez également contacter notre syndicat pour signaler tout abus dont vous auriez été victime ou témoin.

Les écoles sont des lieux d’enseignement et de savoir qui, pour porter leurs fruits et bénéficier aux enfants, se doivent d’être exemplaires et d’offrir à leurs employés un environnement de travail sain et sécuritaire.
C’est ce pour quoi la branche EIFJ Tozen se bat depuis maintenant plus d’un an.

 

Luc Buathier, directeur de la Branche EIFJ Tozen.

eifjbranch.tozenjapan@gmail.com

東京国際フランス学園による不当解雇に敢然と立ち向かう！

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 ～長年、生徒に食事を作ってきた食堂職員に突きつけられた解雇通告～

2022年12月、東京国際フランス学園（Lycée Français International de Tokyo）内の食堂で長きにわたり、たくさんの生徒たちの食事を作ってきた東ゼン労組UPL支部の2名の組合員は、昨年、突如仕事を奪われました。

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Tozen Union Rallies to Restore Trade Union Rights of Direct Hire ALTs

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On Sunday, January 29, Tozen Union, our legal team, and our supporters held a rally to launch our campaign to restore Trade Union Rights to Direct Hire ALTs.

In April 2020, local civil service law was amended and direct hire ALTs around the country were classified as “fiscal-year appointees.” Prior to this change, direct hire ALTs had the right to join a union and demand collective bargaining. This so-called “reform” stripped them of those basic labour rights.

Tozen Union demanded that Tokyo Board of Education meet for collective bargaining in July of 2020. The board refused, and the union sued in Tokyo Labour commission. The case was dismissed late last year in light of the legal amendment. Tozen plans to sue in court to overturn this unconstitutional decision. Our goal is to restore trade union rights not only for fiscal-year appointees, but all civil servants.

We need your help.
Please contact case officer Gerome Rothman at tozen.rothman@gmail.com to find out what you can do.

Gaba signs historic strike-rights deal with Union

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  On Dec. 14, 2022, Tozen Union, Gaba Workers Union and Gaba Corporation signed a deal recognizing the right of Gaba teachers to strike for better conditions, a long-running point of dispute in the Tokyo and National Labor Commissions. 

(Yosuke Ishii signed for management, while Musashi Sakazaki and Louis Carlet signed on behalf of the union.)

Bread & Roses: Labor Commission Grants Rights to Uber Eats Union

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SNA (Tokyo) — US President Joe Biden ensured that December 2, 2022, will go down as a dark day in the history of the US labor movement. He signed legislation that forces railway unions to accept a miserable contract, robbing them of their right to strike for better conditions. A week prior, the Tokyo Labor Relations Commission provided us a brighter day in labor history with the first ever ruling extending union rights to those engaged in work via an online platform.

The Tokyo Labor Relations Commission ruled that Uber Eats Japan’s “delivery partners” are workers and have all three trade union rights–the right to solidarity, the right to collective bargaining, and the right to strike. The commission ordered Uber Eats Japan as well as two Uber subcontractors that handle delivery driver registration, support, and education to negotiate with the Uber Eats Union in good faith.

The delivery giant registers its deliverers as individual service providers with zero protection under Japanese labor laws, including the key Labor Standards Act and Trade Union Act.

The definition of rodosha (worker or employee) differs depending on which labor law is applied, be it the Labor Standards Act, the Trade Union Act, the National Health Insurance Act, or one of many others. The definition under the Trade Union Act has the broadest scope, so many workers have union rights, but don’t enjoy wage and other rights as stipulated in the Labor Standards Act.

Article 1 of the Trade Union Act stipulates the purpose of the law–to ensure that workers can band together (“combine” in Adam Smith’s terminology) to increase their negotiating position, come to the table with employers as equals, and improve their working conditions.

The Tokyo Labor Relations Commission had to determine whether or not Uber Eats delivery partners (in Uber’s phony circumlocution) enjoy the status of rodosha and its attendant three union rights. The corporation claims that it provides the service of “matching” restaurants and those who want to order food, and thus its platform users don’t “provide labor” to the Uber Eats platform operator.

“Uber doesn’t only provide the platform to the delivery partners,” the judgement read.

The reality is that it is in many different ways involved in the completion of the delivery, and since the delivery partners must complete their deliveries under Uber oversight, it’s hard to conceive them as being nothing more than simple “customers” (platform users). We can strongly infer the possibility of assessing what they do as providing labor to Uber, which runs the business within the overall Uber Eats business.

The following labor ministry checklist, created based on previous jurisprudence, is used to determine rodosha status under the Trade Union Act:

1. The purported rodosha are integral to the business organization
2. Contracts are written unilaterally or uniformly
3. Remuneration is in exchange for labor/work
4. The purported rodosha are expected to accept orders (i.e. not really free to say no)
5. Work hours and locations are determined by the corporation, not by purported rodosha
6. The corporation takes the key risks, rewards, and decisions who does the work

In other words, courts and labor commissions have looked not only at the words written on the contract, but also at the reality of the relationship between the corporation and the purported rodosha.

The Tokyo Labor Commission ruled September 3, 2019, that language teachers working at Gaba had all three labor union rights based on the actual relationship between Gaba and teacher, despite Gaba contracts alleging that instructors are independent service providers. The commission took cognizance of the fact that both Uber Eats and Gaba set forth strict, detailed rules that their deliverers or teachers must follow, contradicting the notion that they are merely intermediaries matching up providers and users.

Gaba appealed its loss to the Central Labor Relations Commission in a case nearing its conclusion. Uber Eats is considering its options, including an appeal to the higher body.

Platform operators like Uber are growing in number, in part due to the impact of the pandemic. Whereas it does afford platform workers a degree of freedom in terms of working times and locations, the jobs inherently lack security, social insurance, and other social safety benefits. Some have called for the drafting of legislation to protect freelancers.

So far, however, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has not moved forward with policies to protect platform workers.

This ruling is a good first step, to be sure, but it should also be obvious. Corporations are increasingly turning to this model of treating working people and their labor as commodities to enrich themselves and their businesses, while taking zero responsibility for their rights, protections, or welfare.

Let us condemn this insidious corporate machination, even as we welcome this particular verdict.

This article was written by Hifumi Okunuki, and originally published by the Shingetsu News Agency (SNA).

Bread & Roses: Bosses Can’t Force Workers to Quit

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SNA (Tokyo) — Kata-tataki, or taps on the shoulder, indicate a series of actions a boss takes to drive a worker to quit without outright firing them. It establishes that the subsequent contract termination is mutually agreed, as opposed to a unilateral and contestable firing. The legal jargon for such “shoulder tapping” is taishoku kansho. In this installment of Bread & Roses, I’d like to explain the practice and introduce a recent, surprising verdict in a court case over its validity.

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Shane English School must pay for unfairly firing Adam Cleeve…again

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On October 19, 2022, Adam Cleeve concluded an in-court settlement with Shane English School, thereby ending a seven-year labor dispute that included him getting fired twice. 

   Adam had joined Shane Corp. in 2015 and soon joined the Tozen Union Shane Workers Union, due to his belief that all employees should unionize. He became executive president the following year. His active and effective leadership of the strike to win job security for teachers galvanized Shane management to launch a campaign to get rid of this troublemaker. 

Many employers hoping to sack a union leader look for performance issues. But students lauded Adam as a talented and reliable teacher, a fact management admitted. Shane had to find another way. 

 

First Firing

Adam’s daughter Luna was born in November 2016. When his wife found out she was expecting her first child, he took time off to be with her. Management used this chance to this leave by refusing to renew his one-year contract, claiming he had already taken his allotted discretionary paid leave days.

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