‘Maternity harassment’ verdict benefits women, men — and our humanity

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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.

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Job insecurity among Japan’s university teachers is a recipe for further decline

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Buyer's market
Buyer’s market: With the population shrinking, colleges in Japan are desperate to seize a share of the dwindling ‘customer base.’ | ANN AKINO

Universities in Japan are caught up in a cutthroat struggle for survival. As the population of children plummets, so, in turn, does the number of college entrants.

The decline is particularly stark considering that the number of universities had swelled on the back of the postwar baby boom and bubble economy. Institutions of higher learning are frantic to seize a share of the dwindling “customer base.” Universities choosing students is a thing of the past: Now students select universities.

Born in the early 1970s, I’m what’s known in Japan as a second-wave baby boomer. As a college student in the early 1990s, I experienced the emotional stress and hardship of entrance-exam hell. Many uni hopefuls failed their exams and became so-called wandering ronin for a year until the next round of tests. The term was derived from samurai in the Meiji Era and earlier who left their feudal domain and thus belonged nowhere. During this “nowhere time,” these modern-day academic ronin often studied from early morning until late at night, leading to nervous breakdowns and even cases of children murdering their overbearing parents.

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Shibaura Institute of Technology Workers on Strike

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Today, the Shibaura Institute of Technology Workers Union both struck and leafleted the university. Five members of the union struck all three of their Monday lessons, from 1:00pm to 5:50pm.

This was the first day of the new semester and thus it was necessary to explain the strike to students whom the university has not made aware of its ongoing labor dispute with non-Japanese English teachers it wishes to fire and replace with Japanese-speaking English teachers.

To this end, a total of seven striking teachers and other supporters from parent-union Zenkoku Ipppan Tokyo General Union, or Tozen, leafleted the Omiya campus’s Higashi-Omiya Station bus stop from 12:20pm to 12:50pm. Reaction was positive from students and teachers alike, with many of those leafleted expressing sympathy with the unfair treatment the strikers are receiving.

The union plans to continue industrial action until the university stops stonewalling and agrees to some kind of compromise.

Next Court Hearing against ICC

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Our next court hearing against ICC language school will be held on August 26 at 13:10 room 502 at Yokohama district court. It wil be the last hearing, exchange of documents. In September testimonies will start.
Although it’s in the middle of the day and far please try to come if you can. Thank you very much.

ＩＣＣ外語学院を相手取った次の法廷での審理は８月２６日１３時１０分、横浜地裁５０２号法廷です。 最後の審理と書面のやり取りになる予定です。 ９月からは口頭陳述が始まります。
平日の日中の開催でしかも遠方ですが、可能ならばぜひお越しください。
どうもありがとうございました。

職場には、民主的な従業員代表が必要だ！

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先週、ある人から、以下のような相談を受けた。仮にＡさんとしておこう。

「私はいま、東京に本社がある○○というコンサルティング会社で働いていて、もうすぐ３年になります。実は昨日、突然人事部から全社員にメールが来て、『〇〇社の従業員代表について信任投票を行います。従業員代表は、就業規則変更などの際に、従業員を代表して会社に意見を伝えていただくことになります。このたび〇〇社の従業員代表として、△△さんが推薦され、ご本人からもその候補者になる旨の申し出をいただきました。

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A democratically elected rep is every worker’s legal right

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Workers
Workers’ voice in negotiations: The lack of a freely and fairly elected workers’ rep could cost employees dearly in the long run, allowing management to alter work rules and worsen conditions with little resistance. | BLOOMBERG

Last week Mr. A came to me for a labor consultation.

“I have worked for Company A for nearly three years,” he said, “and recently I received an email from human resources announcing an election for workers’ rep (jūgyōin daihyō). The email said that the rep’s job would be to communicate the opinion of the workforce on any changes to work rules (shūgyō kisoku), and that Ms. B had been nominated for the post. It went on to say that if an objection from a majority of employees was not received by a certain date, then management would consider her the victor.”

It was the first time Mr. A had heard anything about such a position. He asked me, “What on Earth is a workers’ rep? What do they do? I have nothing against Ms. B, so should I just leave it to her?”

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