Tokyo General Union (Tozen) protests the firing of member Sulejman Brkic in front of the language school ICC. He worked there for 22 years and was fired for asking for his legally allotted paid holidays.
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Teachers tread water in eikaiwa limbo
BY CRAIG CURRIE-ROBSON
Jan 22nd, 2014
Every year, thousands of young native English-speakers fly to Asia in search of an adventure, financed by working as English teachers. They come from Australia, New Zealand, the U.S., Britain, Canada and elsewhere.
But it can be risky leaping into another country on the promise of an “easy” job. In Japan’s competitive English teaching market, foreign language instructors are treading water. “Subcontractor” teachers at corporate giant Gaba fight in the courts to be recognized as employees. Berlitz instructors become embroiled in a four-year industrial dispute, complete with strikes and legal action. Known locally as eikaiwa, “conversation schools” across the country have slashed benefits and reduced wages, forcing teachers to work longer hours, split-shifts and multiple jobs just to make ends meet.
Restore the shuttered-up New Year’s of yore
BY HIFUMI OKUNUKI
First of all, I would like to wish a happy new year to all the readers of Labor Pains. While labor news has generally been a gloomy topic of late, it is my hope that this year will bring brighter things for me to write about.
As I draft this first column of 2014, I am sitting in front of my computer at 10 at night in my apartment in downtown Tokyo. The suddenly vacated metropolis is blanketed in an uncanny hush. Hardly any cars can be seen passing by. In the great New Year’s exodus, many of the inhabitants of Tokyo have returned to their various hometowns across Japan, leaving the city in a temporary state of near-abandonment.
I can’t say that I’ve ever disliked this vacated Tokyo. In fact, I enjoy the calm atmosphere. Watching “Kohaku” (an annual pop music contest televised on New Year’s Eve), chatting about this and that, eatingtoshikoshi soba (a noodle dish with tempura served on Dec. 31) — this kind of traditional New Year’s Eve suits me just fine. And, even if I were to absentmindedly forget the tempura for the soba, I wouldn’t have to worry because, in this day and age, most supermarkets remain open all through the holiday season. It is no longer rare to see a supermarket open its doors even on New Year’s Day.
It wasn’t always like this. Back in my day, we took it for granted that for the period from the evening of Dec. 31 to Jan. 3, nearly everything would be shuttered up. On the morning of New Year’s Eve, stores would be scenes of chaos, packed with shoppers frantically stocking up on supplies to last the week. My mother used to take my sister and me along as well, to help carry bags for her, and both of us would barely be able to hold all the shopping. For us kids, the pressure of knowing that if we forgot something we would have to do without it over the holidays brought with it a strange sense of excitement.
But today’s young people have probably never experienced all that. Convenience stores that open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day now dot the Japanese landscape, and supermarkets are closely following with ever longer business hours, to the point that the end of the year no longer feels like such a special time.
I sometimes wonder if this new “convenience culture” is a good thing. Of course, from the standpoint of consumers, being able to buy anything you need any time provides a sense of security, and this convenience could be considered to be something positive. But at the same time, if we look at it from the workers’ perspective, that convenience comes at the direct cost of more labor through the holiday period. Convenience stores, supermarkets, DVD rental shops, family and fast food restaurants,izakaya, karaoke parlors — all kinds of establishments remain garishly and noisily open for business in spite of the New Year’s holiday.
The people working at these places have to sacrifice their private lives for the sake of their jobs. Of course, you could argue that the people working at these stores freely choose to do so. However, I doubt that most of the people working in these jobs are in a position to make very “free” choices. Rather, I suspect that they are cajoled or even coerced into taking these shifts. I can’t help but have misgivings about the idea of forcing people into situations where they have to make personal sacrifices for the sake of customer convenience.
For contrast, let’s look at how the same issue is handled in another country. In Germany in 1900, a law called the Shop Closing Act (Ladenschlussgesetz) was passed that remains in force to this day. Under this law, shops are in principle not allowed to open outside the hours of 6 a.m.-8 p.m. on Mondays to Saturdays — or at all on Sundays and national holidays. While airports and train stations are exempt and many other revisions have followed over the years, gradually resulting in the law being relaxed significantly, the Shop Closing Law continues to regulate business hours in Germany.
The motivations behind this act were threefold. First, for religious reasons, the government wanted to preserve Sunday as the Christian Sabbath. Second, the law’s proponents hoped to protect the livelihoods of “all workers.” They feared that longer business hours would result in employees being forced to work longer hours to match. Third, the government wanted to protect small businesses. In other words, it worried that with unregulated business hours, large companies that could afford to extend business hours would gradually rob smaller companies of their customers and thereby threaten their very existence.
As I’ve written about over and over in my Labor Pains articles, overwork is one of the most serious social ills afflicting Japan today. About 5 million people — 10 percent of Japan’s workforce — toil more than 60 hours a week, according to a 2012 study by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
Theoretically, Article 32 of the Labor Standards Law gives workers the protection of the eight-hour day and the 40-hour week, and bans work above those limits. However, exceptions to this law are often recognized. While so-called 36 Agreements (a kind of deal struck between workers and management about overtime, named after Article 36 of the same law) are required for overtime to be permitted, in practice many companies are able to extract unpaid overtime from their workers without concluding any such deal.
On top of that, in an investigation published on Dec. 30, the Tokyo Shimbun found 1,343 cases of companies that incorporated “fixed overtime pay” lump sums into regular wages and then forced workers to work past the hours originally set in their contracts or, alternatively, did not even give a clear figure on how much overtime was being paid for.
Furthermore, under the Labor Standards Act, provisions exist allowing for flexible arrangements such as irregular working hours, flex-time, work outside the workplace and discretionary labor. (Under the discretionary labor system, employer and employee are supposed to decide between them how long a job should take, with the employer then paying the worker for those hours regardless of how many hours are actually worked.) In other words, the law that is supposed to protect the health and livelihood of workers in Japan is riddled with loopholes, and the country is sadly filled with employers willing to exploit these loopholes and overwork their employees.
So once again this year, I have ended up returning to a gloomy theme. However, this New Year’s Day, I dare to dream of how different things might be if we were to look at the people working at our convenience stores, supermarkets and restaurants not from the perspective of consumers blindly seeking convenience, but, like the framers of Germany’s Shop Closing Act, as people who believe that all workers should be protected.
In that spirit, and not out of nostalgia, I suggest that we work to bring back the old, shuttered-up New Year’s Day.
Hifumi Okunuki teaches at Sagami Women’s University and serves as executive president of Tozen Union (Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union). She can be reached at tozen.okunuki@gmail.com. On the second Thursday of each month, Hifumi looks at cases in Japan’s legal history to illustrate important principles in labor law.
Originally published here:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/01/08/general/restore-the-shuttered-up-new-years-of-yore/#.UtdzeHnCWwe
The year in labor: the Top 5 pains of 2013
By Hifumi Okunuki
Illustrations by Time O’Bree
Japan’s old calendar called December shiwasu (師走). These two kanji mean “teacher” and “run.” The idea was that the last month of the year is so busy that even a staid, starch-shirted professor finds him or herself scurrying around like a rabbit, trying to get everything done on time.
As we hurtle toward 2014, it’s time to look back on how the Year of the Snake treated labor. In keeping with the growing trend on TV, blogs and news sites, I’ve devoted this final edition of the year to a Top 5 list. The Top 5 Labor Pains of 2013 will focus on what really shook things up in terms of labor relations and employment law. In keeping with convention, I’ll count backwards.
Note: These are my personal picks and you may question my choices or believe other labor news to be more deserving of inclusion. If so, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
5. The planned ‘special dismissal zone’
The media jumped on the plan, calling the proposed area a “dismissal zone,” to which academic Tatsuo Hatta, the head of the working group, retorted, “It’s a job creation zone, not a dismissal zone.”
What kind of jobs do these planners intend to create for us? Since firms are free to employ and un-employ workers at will, these workers will in effect become interchangeable parts in the corporate machine. For every job created, employers can cherry-pick which workers to let go, leading to massive turnover and great social instability.
The plan raised such an uproar that it has been put off for now. But proponents will not roll over so easily. When the winds are right, they are sure to give it another shot.
4. Rin Danda, labor standards inspector
I cannot overemphasize the significance of the fact that a labor standards inspector was made the protagonist of a TV series.
I had already read the comic book “Dandarin,” which follows the adventures of plucky Rin Danda, and was concerned that something might be lost in translation en route to TV. I have been reassured by the first series, which ended Wednesday. It is obvious that producers have researched the Labor Standards Bureau properly and have carefully avoided making the script preachy.
Ratings have been poor, but the series has gone a long way toward conveying the reality facing the modern worker in Japan.
3. The Fukushima far-more-than-50
Do you remember the “Fukushima 50″? They were the workers who struggled frantically to regain control over the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant just after the triple meltdown caused by the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake and ensuing tsunami. The domestic and foreign media heaped accolades upon them, suggesting they were heroes burning with a sense of mission who demonstrated remarkable courage in fulfilling their duties with scant regard for their own lives.
More than 2½ years have passed, yet the government and society have nearly forgotten those who still toil day and night at the plant. If they were to drop their tools for even a night, the resulting contamination could leave our country uninhabitable. And it isn’t just 50 of them anymore — let’s recognize the thousands of heroes who have worked, still work and will work at the Fukushima No. 1 plant to contain the contamination and protect our environment.
And what are working conditions like for these heroes? Unfortunately, many workers there are slaving under horrible sweatshop conditions. Tokyo Electric Power Co. hires layer upon layer of subcontractors, sub-subcontractors and so on, with most workers involved in the cleanup eking out a living on the very lowest tiers of this exploitation pyramid.
The biggest problem with this structure is that no one can figure out who is accountable for employment and working conditions. With little or no preparation or training, these workers are suddenly thrust into highly dangerous tasks beyond the reach of labor law but well within the reach of harmful daily doses of ionizing radiation. Even their “danger pay” is skimmed by their bosses and their bosses’ bosses.
Most workers grin and bear it without a peep of protest, fearful of losing the only job they can find. Recently, however, one worker employed by a fifth-tier subcontractor took action. He was told upon hiring that he would not have to work in dangerous conditions, yet he was assigned to increasingly high-exposure tasks, such as removing glass near one of the reactor buildings. The day after he protested that he had been promised a safe job, he was fired.
He joined a labor union, which requested collective bargaining with five companies, including Tepco itself, over demands such as reinstatement, an end to false outsourcing (gisō ukeoi) and the payment of the promised danger money. Only his direct employer — the fifth-tier subcontractor — agreed to negotiate. His union sued Tepco and the other defiant firms in the Tokyo Labor Commission for refusing to engage in collective bargaining. Tepco claimed to know nothing of the request for collective bargaining and refused to comment.
Going on three years since the accident, we still have little to show in terms of protecting the rights of nuclear power plant workers.
2. ‘Black company’ makes it into Top 10 buzzwords
The winning “Buzzwords of the Year” for 2013 in the annual contest held by publishing house Jiyukokuminsha and correspondence education provider U-Can were “Ima desho!” (Why not now!), omotenashi (hospitality),jejeje (an expression of surprise) andbaikaeshi (double payback). I won’t go into the above expressions here, but I will discuss burakku kigyō, which made the Top 10.
Literally, the term means “black company,” but it might more properly be rendered as “evil corporation.” The phrase describes firms who find profit and success by scoffing at labor laws and brutally exploiting employees, particularly young workers who do not know the law. Some companies literally work their employees to death. Or suicide.
The word went viral thanks to the efforts of Haruki Konno, the director of the labor consultancy NPO Hojin Posse.
Some have pointed out that using a term derived from the English word “black” to mean “evil” is racist toward those of African descent. There are many words in Japanese that seem to associate “black” with negative things:kuroboshi (defeat), haraguroi hito (mean person) and kuro (guilty), to name but a few. There are also exceptions: kurooto (professional) andkuroji (profitable), for example.
For better or worse, burakku kigyō has seeped deep into the language this year and has raised awareness of the existence of some very bad companies. While this is certainly a social problem, it’s also true that it’s up to workers to stand up for themselves and join forces with their colleagues to improve their conditions.
1. Clock starts on the ‘five-year rule’
I had difficulty deciding which Labor Pain to pick for the No. 1 spot this year. In the end, I decided that the “five-year rule” may end up having the greatest impact on workers — for good or ill, it remains unclear. For my part, I cannot help being pessimistic about this change to the Labor Contract Law.
About 26 percent of workers in Japan are on fixed-term contracts. The risk of nonrenewal hangs over their heads each time their contract concludes. It is much easier to fire such workers than those with ordinary permanent contracts. Many companies hire workers on these temporary contracts even though the work is anything but. This “permatemp” status continues year after year and renewal after renewal.
The purported objective of the new rule is to increase job security for the millions on such contracts by letting them attain permanent status after five years. Many employers, however, have decided to go 180 degrees against the spirit of the law and are already planning to let workers go before they reach the five-year milestone, thus making their jobs even less secure.
A small minority of employers are bucking this trend and moving actively to let their workers attain permanent employment status. But even this year — the first year of the five-year “clock” — we see want-ads flooding job sites advertising positions with five-year ceilings.
More frightening still, while employers seem to know enough about the law to evade it, a September study by Japan’s largest union federation, Rengo, indicated that 88 percent of workers on fixed-term contracts were unaware of the nature of the change to the Labor Contract Law. That has to change. We need to know the law in order to use it.
I want to thank all my readers for taking the time to read this year’s 12 Labor Pains. Next year, I plan to take the column in an all-new, more fun direction. Have a good New Year’s and see you in the Year of the Horse.
Hifumi Okunuki teaches at Sagami Women’s University and serves as executive president of Tozen Union (Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union). She can be reached at tozen.okunuki@gmail.com. On the second Thursday of each month, Hifumi looks at cases in Japan’s legal history to illustrate important principles in labor law. Send your comments and story ideas to community@japantimes.co.jp.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/12/11/general/the-year-in-labor-the-top-5-pains-of-2013/
Tozen Gaba Local President Tyler Christensen Under Fire
Tozen Gaba Local President Tyler Christensen has recently been disciplined with a warning letter by Gaba for staying at the office too late. Tyler is a model Gaba instructor. He is hard at work every day providing excellent lessons, even putting in unpaid overtime to keep his clients happy and the company well informed of their progress.
He apparently works TOO hard.
At our last CB on November 14th, the company pretended that a disciplinary letter was not really discipline, despite the fact that they threatened his future contract renewals in the letter.
Our union is standing up for fairness at Gaba, but we need your help. Join our campaign to improve working conditions at Gaba. Contact us at organizing@tokyogeneralunion.org for more information.
Tozen Gaba Local Wins Labor Management Agreements with Gaba
This summer the Tozen Gaba Local took three steps forward in our campaign to improve working conditions at Gaba.
We signed an agreement to raise wages.
We signed an agreement guaranteeing the right of instructors to change their home LS at any time without interference or discrimination from the company.
We signed an agreement to receive a twice yearly financial transparency document detailing revenue, profit, and number of clients for the company.
There’s More Work to Do
Gaba instructors are making progress, but we have a great deal more to win. The majority of our 2013 yearly demands remain unresolved. Gaba management says that they share our goal of improving working conditions for Gaba instructors. We can hold them to that commitment and win improvements such as job security, fair compensation for R-Slots, and a reasonable sick leave policy. We need your help. Join our union.
For more information e-mail organizing@tokyogeneralunion.org.
2013 Shunto Demands２０１３年春闘要求事項
安定した雇用について On Job Security
１ 会社は、全組合員の安定した雇用を実現するため、労働条件を悪化することなく、契約を自動更新すること。
The company automatically extend contracts without degrading working conditions in order to establish job security.
２ 会社は、全員の講師が契約を途中で解除する自由を認めるとともに、その自由が存することを全講師に周知すること。
The company recognize and notify instructors of the right to terminate the contract at any time.
３ 会社は、第１項及び第２項に基づいて、組合並びに支部と「安定雇用労働協約」を締結すること。
The company conclude with the union and local a “Job Security Labor-Management Agreement” based on demands #1 and #2.
事前協議について On Jizen Kyogi (Prior Consultation)
4 会社は、組合員の人事異動、懲戒処分、解雇（本人の意思に反するあらゆる契約終了を含む）を行う場合、事前に組合並びに支部に通知し、協議の上、同意を得て実施すること。
The company inform, negotiate with and obtain agreement from union and local before any transfers, disciplinary measures or dismissal of any union member; including all forms of severance against the wishes of the union member.
５ 会社は、第4項に基づいて、組合並びに支部と「事前協議労働協約」を締結すること。
The company conclude with the union and local a “Jizen Kyogi Labor-Management Agreement” based on demand #4.
便宜供与について On Bengi Kyoyo (Use of Facilities)
６ 会社は、会社施設内での組合の相互連絡、ニュース・ビラの配布、会議室使用などの組合活動を許可すること。また、各ラーニングスタジオの休憩室と本社において、組合業務のための掲示板をーつ貸与すること。
The company permit the distribution of flyers, newsletters and other union correspondence on company premises as well as the use of company meeting rooms for union activities. Further, the company provide one bulletin board in the break room of each LS and one at headquarters for the use of the union.
７ 会社は、イニシャル・サーティフィケーション及びベルト・アップ・サーティフィケーションという研修への組合代表者の立ち会いを許可し、同研修を受けている講師らに対し、労働組合に関する情報提供並びに質疑応答のための時間として１５分を確保すること。
The company permit union representatives to attend Initial Certification and Build Up Certification training to make a fifteen-minute presentation and answer questions about the union.
８ 会社は、第６項及び第７項に基づいて、組合並びに支部と「便宜供与労働協約」を締結すること。
The company conclude with the union and local a “Bengi Kyoyo Labor-Management Agreement” based on demands #6, and #7.
透明性について On Transparency
９ 会社は、毎年の損益計算書、貸借対照表などの財務諸表、経営方針、重要事項（主要資産の処分・購入、役員の変更など）の情報について、速やかに組合並びに支部に公開し、内容の説明をすること。
The company immediately disclose and explain to union and local each year’s financial documents, including profit-loss statement and balance sheet; as well as management policy, important actions such as purchase or sale of assets, changes in executive board and the like.
１０ 会社は、組合員の働き方と振る舞いについての評価を行う際、使用されている基準を明確にする文書の日本語版と英語版の両方を、組合並びに支部に交付すること。なお、会社は、講師と社員が順守しなければならない、授業提供についての規定の日本語版と英語版の両方を、組合並びに支部に交付すること。
The company provide union and local with Japanese language and English language versions of the standards it uses when evaluating instructor performance and conduct, as well as policies pertaining to the provision of lessons that staff and instructors must follow.
１１ 会社は、講師の働き方と振る舞いについて記録されている、各組合員の「My Schedule for Instructors」というファイルを組合並びに支部に交付すること。
The company provide union and local with a written copy of the complete contents of each union member’s My Schedule for Instructors file, including all comments written by Gaba staff pertaining to evaluation of performance and conduct.
１２ 会社は、第９項及～１1項に基づいて、組合並びに支部と「透明性労働協約」を締結すること。
The company conclude with the union and local a “Transparency Labor-Management Agreement” based on demands #9-11.
働く環境について On Working Environment
１３ 会社は、レッスンの前日の１８：００以降にレッスンをキャンセルされた場合、レッスン料の全額を支払うこと。また、キャンセルの後、講師はキャンセルされたレッスンの時間帯に、新たに別の生徒にレッスンをした場合、会社は、新たに発生したレッスンの料金も支払うこと。
The company, if a lesson is canceled after 6:00pm the night before it is scheduled to be taught, provide the instructor full compensation for the lesson. If the instructor then teaches a different client during the same time slot, the company pay the instructor for both lessons.
１４ 会社は、労働協約の締結日から6ヶ月以内に、講師がオンラインで簡単にレッスン時間帯を「クローズ」することができるよう、マイ Gaba フォア・インストラクターズというホームページを修正すること。
The company, within six months of signing the agreement, adapt My Gaba For Instructors to enable instructors to close lessons online at any time.
１５ 会社は、目立たない限り、耳以外のピアスを許可すること。また、女性と同様に男性のピアスを許可すること。また、クールビズの時期のみならず、年中通じてネクタイの着用を講師の裁量に委ねること。
The company amend its dress code as follows: the company permit piercings other than in the ear provided they are understated; the company permit men the equal right to piercings as women; and the company permit instructors to regard neckties as optional year-round.
１６ 会社は、年に６日間の無給の病気休暇を認めること。また、会社は体調不良の講師に対して出勤するよう圧力をかけたり、医師の診断書を求めたりしないこと。なお会社は、開校前に病欠の連絡ができる方法を工夫すること。それから会社は、病欠した講師に対して、契約更新やベルトなどにおいて一切の不利益取り扱いをしないこと。
The company give instructors 6 days per year in which they can call in sick. The company not pressure sick instructors to teach lessons while sick. The company not request doctors’ notes or other proof of sickness. The company provide instructors a means to call-in sick prior to the opening of the LS. There be no repercussions in terms of contract renewal or belting.
１７ 会社は、組合員と経営者がそれぞれ同数で構成される苦情処理委員会を結成すること。
The company establish a grievance committee, half of the members of which being union members and half of which being appointed by management.
１８ 会社は、イニシャル・サーティフィケーションという研修が完成次第、３ヶ月ごとにホームラーニングスタジオをどこにするかを決める自由を認めること。会社は講師のホームラーニングスタジオにおいて、ブースが空いてる限り、講師が提出したスケジュールを承認すること。なお、会社は、スケジュールを組む際には、非組合員より組合員を、勤続年数の短い講師より勤続年数の長い講師を優先すること。
The company grant instructors the freedom to determine their home LS upon completion of initial certification and once every three months thereafter. The company accept any schedule submitted by an instructor for their home LS contingent on booth availability, giving priority to union instructors according to seniority.
１９ 会社は、FM、FL、LPA、レッド、ブラック、そして顧客に依頼されないグリーンという予約について、非組合員より組合員を、勤続年数の短い講師より勤続年数の長い講師を優先して振り当てること。
The company allocate red and black bookings, FMs, FLs, LPAs and green bookings not requested by the client to available union members based on seniority.
２０ 会社は、該当するラーニングスタジオにおいて、予約の入らないコマの割合が、３ヶ月間で１０％以下にならない限りにおいて、新たな講師を同ラーニングスタジオに配置しないこと。なお、講師を配置する場合には、ブース数に対する講師の数の割合を１０対１以下とすること。
The company not assign any new instructors to any LS until the average number of unbooked lesson slots over a three-month period falls below 10% for that LS. In that case, one instructor may be assigned for every ten booths, rounded to the nearest ten.
２１ 会社は、上記の条項（第１２項～第１９項）に基づいて、組合並びに支部と「労働環境の労働協約」を締結すること。
The company conclude with the union and local a “Working Environment Labor-Management Agreement” based on demands #12-19.
Five-Year Rule Seminar
Does new Labor Contract Law mean five years and out? Or five years and in?
「５年ルールセミナー」開催します！
◆ Date：日 時
Sunday, December １, 2013 2:00pm to 5:00pm
２０１３年１２月１日（日）午後２時００分〜午後５時００分
No entrance fee！ 参加はどなたでも無料です。
Real ‘labor cops’ also deserve to get the star treatment
By Hifumi Okunuki
Television meant little to me until this autumn. Now, every Wednesday at 10 p.m., I sit squarely in front of the tube, glued to the set for the next hour of the new comedy “Dandarin.”
In the show, Yuko Takeuchi plays a stubborn, by-the-book labor standards inspector named Rin Danda who loathes letting even the slightest infraction slide, making for some awkward, tense moments when she comes up against her more see-no-evil, hear-no-evil coworkers. Perhaps not surprisingly, never before has a TV show starred a labor standards inspector; before this series went on air, most people probably had no idea what they do.
Takeuchi told a magazine, “I never even knew the job of labor standards inspector existed until I got this role.” It’s not that the actress knows less than the average citizen; it’s that the job was nearly invisible and played no role in the quotidian lives of most people.
That said, recent high-profile cases of restructuring layoffs, unfair dismissals, long work hours, karōshi (death from overwork), karō jisatsu (overwork-induced suicides), incidents of sexual and power harassment, workplace bullying and other sometimes-life-or-death issues (the list goes on and on) suggest it was high time to shine a light on this invaluable profession. TV has regained meaning in my life — and, I hope, in the lives of others.
Tackling such a serious, inherently boring topic and attempting to turn it into a bundle of laughs for TV must have been quite a challenge — and a risk — for the producers. They have done all that and more. The show says a great deal about Japanese office politics and corporate practices that are long overdue some serious scrutiny.
Today some 52 million workers toil at about 4.3 million workplaces in Japan. First and foremost, labor standards inspectors are responsible for all these workers’ lives, safety and health. On top of that, they are supposed to ensure that working conditions comply with all relevant labor laws and regulations. They must pass a civil servants’ exam before being placed at one of the many labor standards inspection offices dotted around the country.
Inspectors have the right to regularly conduct compulsory spot raids on companies to investigate their records. They also have judicial police powers to seize assets to cover unpaid wages and even to arrest violators. They are often called “labor cops,” which would seem to be a pretty fair description.
With all these powers at the disposal of labor inspectors, you could be forgiven for imagining Japan must be a workers’ paradise where employee protections are universally respected. The sad fact, however, is that Japan is awash with rogue bosses who think of nothing but their bottom lines and how they can squeeze every last ounce of production from their workers. Ironically, the extraordinary enforcement powers inspectors have are precisely what makes them hesitant to act.
There is even a jargon term for useless inspectors who make their rounds to each company, take a quick glance around the workplace and leave: kyoro-kan. The word kyoro means to glance around, while kan means inspector. I wouldn’t dream of suggesting that all inspectors are kyoro-kan, but I have encountered several unmotivated inspectors in the past who did their best to discourage, dishearten and dissuade workers who had mustered the courage to blow the whistle on their bosses.
However, the biggest problem is systemic rather than personal. First, there are far too few inspectors. Tokyo Shimbun’s evening edition on Nov. 11, 2012, ran the headline “Tokyo’s 23 wards have one inspector for every 3,000 workplaces.” Such a ratio precludes thorough enforcement. Yet the government is pushing for further cuts and reduced hiring. Even the passionate few inspectors must feel powerless when faced with such daunting numbers. To do their job properly, they would have to — no irony intended — work themselves to death.
Here, I’d like to introduce an ongoing court case brought on Feb. 22, 2011, by the family of a 24-year-old man who killed himself due to working excessive overtime. He joined construction company Shinko Plantech in 2007 and supervised repair construction.
Working more than 40 hours a week of overtime violates the Labor Standards Law unless management has signed an Article 36 agreement (saburoku kyōtei) with a union or employee representing a majority of the workforce. Employers must register such agreements with their local labor standards inspection office (rōdō kijun kantokusho).
Guidelines limit overtime hours to 45 per month with exceptions, including construction. Shinko Plantech signed a saburoku kyōtei with the union for 200 extra hours per month. The worker could not handle the stress and killed himself a few months after hitting 218 hours of overtime work per month.
The family didn’t just sue the company; they also sued the labor standards inspection office for accepting such an outrageous saburoku kyōtei agreement — and even the labor union for signing it. It is the first lawsuit against a labor union for a karō jisatsu. The plaintiffs are asking for ¥130 million in damages, and the district court verdict is expected any day now.
In terms of overtime hours, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has drawn a line beyond which they believe workers face a high danger of death from overwork. That line is 80 hours for two to six months straight, or 100 hours for even one month. Shinko Plantech blew that number out of the water with their deal capping overtime at 200 hours per month — and they didn’t even comply with that number. The labor union then signed this deal — a pact that would make even yellow unions blush.
So what’s to be done? I think we need to get back to basics. We must never allow workers to work themselves into an early grave. Period. Let’s learn from Rin Danda, who unflinchingly and unapologetically squares off against scofflaw employers in the name of her prime directive: protecting workers. Even when her coworkers make fun of her dedication, she retorts, “I’m just doing my job.”
Yes, indeed, the job of a labor standards inspector is to protect the lives of workers. With that in mind, the central government must hire more inspectors so that they can take heart from the example of Rin Danda and pride in protecting Japan’s 52 million workers.
See Philip Brasor’s Oct. 20 Media Mix column, “Imagining civil servants who actually serve,” for more on “Dandarin.”
Hifumi Okunuki teaches at Sagami Women’s University and serves as the executive president of Tozen Union (Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union). She can be reached attozen.okunuki@gmail.com. On the second Thursday of the month, Hifumi looks at cases in Japan’s legal history to illustrate important principles in labor law. Send your comments and story ideas to community@japantimes.co.jp.
[日本語版]Japan College of Foreign Languages Once Again Interferes With Legal Union Activity. We will not back down! またもや正当な組合活動を妨害した日本外国語専門学校（ＪＣＦＬ） ～それでも、私たちはへこたれません！
今朝（2013年10月18日）東ゼンJCFL支部組合員、東ゼン組合員、支持者が日本外国語専門学校（以下JCFLと略）に私たちの組合を拡大するためにJCFLでビラ配りをしました。以下はその報告です。