This SNA Speakeasy features Louis Carlet on the theme of “Japan Worker Rights in Our Time of Crisis.”
Tozen Union ALTs win WFH in Sagamihara
[2020.4.12] Assistant language teachers (ALTs) in Sagamihara City will work from home beginning Monday 13th April rather than Tuesday 14th, dispatcher Interac KK told Tozen Union.
The ALT dispatch giant had planned to send Tozen members to school this week, even though the city had already suspended classes. The union demanded its members work from home instead, to help fight the virus and slow the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
During 11th hour virtual negotiations, Interac management agreed to have the teachers work from home beginning Tuesday, after commuting to the workplace one time only on Monday.
The union welcomed the concession but insisted the ALTs work from home on Monday too. “We are concerned not just for the health and safety of our members, but also anyone they could come into contact during the commute,” said Tozen Senior Organizer Gerome Rothman. Interac agreed to talk to Sagamihara about the demand and later told the school board the ALTs will stay at home.
“We appreciate Interac management’s attention to the health and safety of its employees,” Rothman said. Tozen Union demands all employers help fight the virus by paying employees full salary to work from home.
Sagamihara City is a 40-minute train ride from Shinjuku in central Tokyo.
To join our union and the fight-the-virus campaign, contact Case Officer Gerome Rothman at tozen.rothman@gmail.com.
Bread & Roses: Worker Rights in the Age of Coronavirus
SNA (Tokyo) — Last Friday, the Covid-19 global pandemic passed the horrifying milestone of one million infections and 50,000 fatalities worldwide. There have, as of this writing, been 4,592 confirmed cases and 106 deaths in Japan. Graphs of new cases and deaths trace the left half of steep parabolas as the world’s nations fail to flatten the curve. The global catastrophe and its grim toll traps workers between the closing jaws of infection risk and dire economic straits. As US commentator Krystal Ball noted, “the working class has been shoved into the front lines of this crisis.”
Tozen Daigaku Five-Year Rule 東ゼン大学５年ルール
2020年3月22日(日) 有期雇用契約で働く労働者のための５年ルール(無期転換ルール)の落とし穴を、指宿昭一弁護士が解説してくださいました。
March 22nd, 2020, our superstar activist attorney Shoichi Ibuski lectured on the loopholes of Five-Year Rule.
新型コロナウイルス感染症に関する労働問題Q＆A(日本労働弁護団より)
新型コロナウイルス感染症の拡大が次々と広がる中、やはり労働問題は著しく増加しています。日本労働弁護団が新型コロナウイルス感染症に関する労働問題のQ＆Aを掲載しています。ホットラインも開設しているので是非ご覧ください。
一人で会社と闘うのはなかなか難しいというのが現状です。東ゼン労組も現在、新型コロナウイルス関連の労働問題で様々な会社と闘っています。一人より二人、二人より三人、労働条件の改善には多くの労働者が一緒に闘う必要があります。
労働条件の改善・維持を求めて一緒に闘ってくれる方、是非ご連絡ください。
| Tozen Corona Hotline for Labour Issues: 050-5532-4405 （電話可能時間帯：平日の午後12時～午後8時まで） (Call between 12 noon and 8pm.) 東ゼン労組代表メール General Tozen Union email: info@tokyogeneralunion.org |
Tozen Union settles dispute with language school NCC
[Tokyo, March 25, 2020] Yesterday, Tozen Union inked an agreement with NCC Foreign Language Institute, settling a four-year dispute.
The union and its NCC chapter sued the language school in March 2016, claiming union-busting, including cutting teachers’ classes and firing the president of NCC Union of Teachers and Staff (NUTS). Living up to its acronym, the union fought with insane commitment to the cause, with strikes, protests, and a long, grueling fight in the Tokyo Labor Commission.
Management submitted some 200 exhibits to the commission. The two sides logged 14.5 hours of sworn testimony on topics ranging from the school’s scheduling system to the case officer’s favorite baseball team (Chiba Lotte Marines).
NCC’s legal team prevailed for the most part, and the union won only one of 10 claims. But the school faced an imminent union appeal to the Central Labor Commission and two more years of Tozen’s blend of legal wrangling and street activism. With hours to spare before the appeal deadline, NCC agreed to a broad-ranging settlement.
Coca-Cola Vending machine refillers strike for OT pay, shorter hours コカ・コーラ自販機業者が未払い、長時間労働を求めてストライキ
[13 March 2020, Tokyo] Vending Machine Industry Union members working at four Coca Cola subcontractors (Sigma Logistics, Sigma Vending Service, Japan Beverage, and Okuraya) walked out Friday and protested in front of the Sigma Group headquarters building.
We at Tozen Union supported the strike and protest, along with Tobu Roso, Katsushika District Labor Council, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Youth Union. Our unions mustered a total of 80 protestors, transcending all factional differences* and working together in true solidarity.
２０２０年３月１３日、自販機産業ユニオンが業界４社統一ストライキ（シグマロジスティックス、シグマベンディングサービス、ジャパンビバレッジ、大蔵屋商事）を打ち、シグマグループ本社前で抗議行動を行った。
東ゼン労組も抗議の応援に参加し、東京東部労組、葛飾区労協、首都圏青年ユニオンが応援にかけつけ、計５つの組合、８０名もの参加者が集い、組合の派閥を超えた労働者による真の団結を示した。
東ゼン大学 ５年ルール Tozen Daigaku Five-Year Rule
2020年3月22日(日) 有期雇用契約で働く労働者のための５年ルール(無期転換ルール)の落とし穴を、指宿昭一弁護士が解説します。 March 22nd, 2020, our superstar activist attorney Shoichi Ibuski will lecture on the loopholes of Five-Year Rule.
詳細は下記をご覧ください。Please check below for the detail.
予約画面 Reservation: https://forms.gle/uWHTxcUghk3Aj6qv8
ライブ配信：https://youtu.be/_24SmP3RXDQ
Livestream: https://youtu.be/_24SmP3RXDQ
The Labour Ministry Publishes Information for Foreign Workers 厚生労働省が外国人労働者に対して呼びかける
厚生労働省が日本で働く外国人労働者に向けて、新型コロナウイルス感染症に関連する呼びかけを発表しました。The Labour Ministry have published information for foreign workers who live in Japan about corona virus related issues.
Tozen Daigaku: Abe’s Workplace Reforms uploaded to YouTube 東ゼン大学働き方改革の講義映像
２０２０年２月１５日に行われた東ゼン大学労働法講座の働き方改革のビデオがYouTubeで配信されました。働き方改革で改正された法の盲点、落とし穴等を解説しています。日本語での字幕もありますのでぜひご覧ください。
The video of Tozen Daigaku Abe’s Workplace Reforms was uploaded to YouTube. We explain the loopholes in these ‘reforms’. Please check it out.