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

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.

Tozen Daigaku: How bosses screw with your work hours! 東ゼン大学:会社による労働時間制度変更時の注意点!

Attorney Kinoshita Tetsuro talks us through various changes to the work hour system.
木下徹郎弁護士によるに労働時間制度の様々な変更点について。

Overview of the working time system(日本語)
労働時間制度の概要

東ゼン大学ー職場の組織化 – Tozen Daigaku – How to organise your workplace.

Louis Carlet, Tony Dolan, and Orren Frankham present a Tozen Daigaku on how to safely organise your coworkers, what to be careful of, how to build up a union, and their own experiences in building unions.

Japanese Labour Union Act
Japanese Labour Relations Adjustment Act
Japanese Labour Standards Act