On Monday 4th December 2023, members of Tozen’s Gaba local took to the streets to protest and fight for their wellbeing.
The video below includes speeches from organiser Louis Carlet, Gaba local President Musashi Sakazaki, and Gaba local General Secretary Mitch Brown.
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.
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.
In the article ‘I feel disposable’: Thousands of scientists’ jobs at risk in Japan, about universities terminating workers on fixed-term contracts, Tozen organiser Louis Carlet was interviewed and gave an explanation on how universities have responded to the 5/10-year rule.
Read the full article here
弁護士加藤佳子東ゼン労組執行委員長奥貫妃文は産後産前休暇とマタハラパタハラを講義する。
Attorney Kato Keiko and Tozen President Hifumi Okunuki teach us about the law and legal cases around maternity leave, and maternity and paternity harassment.
Tozen Organisers Louis Carlet and Orren Frankham discuss the paid leave system in Japanese workplaces.
東ゼン一日行動(上)
神田にあるシェーン英会話本社前で抗議行動を始めした。
The first part of Tozen’s All Day Protest.
Starting with the Shane Worker’s Union protesting at Shane English School Head Office in Kanda, Tokyo.
東ゼン一日行動(中)
神田にある神田外語大学院前で抗議行動を始めした。
The second part of Tozen’s All Day Protest.
Kanda University of International Studies (KUIS) Union protesting at Kanda University of International Studies in Kanda, Tokyo.
東ゼン一日行動(下)
銀座にあるインタラック本社前で抗議行動を始めした。
The third part of Tozen’s All Day Protest,
Interac Union protesting at Interac HQ in Ginza
会社は、組合に対して、組合の要求に応じられない理由として経営が大変などを主張します。しかし、組合側は、提示されている財務のデータが本当に分かっているのでしょうか。ここで、財務諸表の読み方についての東ゼン大学のレクチャーの登板です。講師らは財務諸表を楽しみながら読む方法について話し合います。 講師は東ゼン労組の財政部長ルイス・カーレットと専従オルグのジェローム・ロスマンです。
***注意：講師らは、資格を有する会計士ではありません。***
This is an important topic as companies often try to make claims about their earnings as to why they can’t agree to union demands. Find out what the numbers really mean here. Tune in as our presenters try to make finances fun (or as fun as they can be).
Presented by Louis Carlet, and Gerome Rothman.
***Disclaimer: Neither Louis Carlet or Gerome Rothman are accountants.***
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.”