SNA (Tokyo) — “Japan is safer than other countries; the Japanese are kind; the streets are clean; and it’s easy to live here.” I hear foreigners say these things. But I also hear it from Japanese who have never lived abroad. The mainstream media’s Nippon Sugoi! campaign is working, perhaps, but it’s not far off from the nation’s general reputation. But read on: The current reality may blow your image of my country to smithereens. Can such a thing be happening in Japan in 2021?
SNA (Tokyo) — A Japanese court overturned a welfare reduction for the first time ever on February 22, 2021. The Osaka District Court ruled against the government’s 2013 public assistance reduction of ¥67 billion (US$632 million), marking the first court win for the Inochi no Toride litigation campaign, involving more than 1,000 plaintiffs in 29 prefectures around Japan.
Attorney Tetsuro Kokubo, deputy head of the defense team, said, “This is the first time in my long career as a lawyer that I cried when I heard the verdict.” The comment poignantly conveys the challenges of fighting state power.
The Tokyo Board of Education told Tozen Union they will not meet its ALT union for collective bargaining (CB). They also refused to respond in writing to the union’s request to negotiate.
Tozen Union previously enjoyed productive relationship with the school board, including talks last year. Today, the union dropped by on routine business, filing a request for bargaining and informing management of two new union members.
Two board representatives said they wouldn’t take the document because a change in the law had stripped direct-hire ALTs of their trade union rights. They refused even to put their refusal in writing and tried to force the union to take the documents back.
“We knew about changes in the law but also understood that boards of education across the country still negotiate and sign agreements with labor unions,” said ALT organizer Gerome Rothman. “We were surprised a school board would hide behind an unconstitutional law and treat their employees like strangers.”
The union refused to take the documents back and demanded an official written response by 5pm, next Thursday August 6.
“Our union has demands to protect the safety of ALTs working at schools during this pandemic. Board officials interrupted me when I explained the demands, saying ‘we don’t have to talk to you.’”
You might have thought the Shane Workers Union (SWU) had gone quiet, or weren’t doing much over the lockdown, but the members were all quite active. Meetings went from a monthly thing to an almost weekly activity, and the fire in the members hearts was burning and growing.
The members were angry at Shane’s lack of decent guidance during the pandemic and angry at management’s refusal of collective bargaining(CB). The anger increased further when – after two months of refusal – management eventually met the union for CB on 15th June 2020, and offered little in the way of negotiation. The company even claimed that they didn’t even know the legal classification of the pay they gave us during the April and May lockdown.
Shane had decided that during the lockdown they would pay the workers 100% of their salary (woohoo!) as an advance (boo!) on future work. This goes against Article 17 of the Labour Standards Act, “Pay shall not be made for advanced work” and against the government’s appeals to employers to pay workers a full furlough. The government is providing financial assistance to employers to cover the costs of furloughing employees.
As the lockdown ended, the company stated that workers would have to make up 30+ days of work for free. To do this, the company unilaterally changed the working calendar with no negotiation with, or consent from, the workers, changing both training days and paid leave days to working days. This meant most workers would lose most of their holidays.
Shane also decided that the company would reclaim wages from the counselors (receptionists), horrifying them and teachers. The union did what we could to help counselors and want to do more.
As the new working days that were once training days and holidays approached, workers became agitated and angry at the exploitation.
The week leading up to one of the first new working days Saturday, June 27th was filled with discussion and talks of how teachers could stop their work being exploited, and ourthe main response was “withhold your labour.”
This must have hit a certain spot with people, as on Thursday 25th June, 9 people took strike action, with 3 people joining the union through the strike.
These new members and older ones continued to respond to other workers’ frustrations at the company’s changes to the work calendar, by suggesting that they also take action.
The company sent out an “Agreement on Planned Paid Leave Addendum” for workplace representatives to sign on Friday 26th June. This addendum stated that the company would be able to change the paid leave schedule with 7 days notice, and that the company and employees would have to comply with the changes.
It meant that the company wanted the ability to change annual paid leave with no negotiation. Teachers were furious.
All day Friday, Orren (President of the SWU) and Mizuho (Case Officer for the SWU) received strike proposals, some from old members and some from new recruits.
This culminated in an action on Saturday 27th June 2020 with 23 people striking across the company, including 11 people joining the union through strike action.
On Monday 29th June 2020, the company sent out a message with two options from which each teacher must choose. This circumvented any negotiation with the union:
The SWU’s #1 strike demand at the moment is that the company furlough its workers during the lockdown at 100% with no obligation to make up the days.
So we cannot accept either of these offers, and the fight will continue.
In the letter containing the 2 proposed options, the company acknowledges Article 17 and Article 26 of the Labour Standards Act. They mention that Article 17 states that salary cannot be paid in advance, but say nothing else about it. Despite this being the action that Shane took.
Shane misrepresents Article 26 and makes it sound like they would have had to pay only 60% as a furlough, not that they would have had to pay at least 60%. They also claimed that paying 60% might have caused “severe financial difficulties” for staff, never letting slip that 60% is the minimum, or that the government offered Payroll Protection Program assistance to companies that furloughed their employees.
On Tuesday 30th of June, we managed another large strike action of 19 people, with one teacher joining the union through strike action. More schools closed for the day.
Today, on Wednesday 1st of July, we had our 2nd largest strike yet, with 22 people striking, 4 of which joined through striking. Once again, the company was unable to cover all of the strikers.
These large strike actions have doubled the size of the union, and all new members seem very motivated about how they can help the union going forwards to realise the demands.
The hard work of everyone over the past week has been incredible to see. It amazes what people can do when they unite for a cause.
The Shane Workers Union is not anti-company. We are not anti-work. We love our work. We just want to make this a workplace that everyone can be proud of. We look forward to negotiating with the company in the future.
In March, April and May 2020, Shane Corp. took the decision to close schools in response to the novel coronavirus and the declaration of a state of emergency in Japan.
Under Japanese law and in line with social norms, companies across the country have been furloughing their employees and paying an allowance (kyugyou teate), or keeping their employees busy by implementing work from home policies.
Shane Corp. decided on an entirely different approach, and has not furloughed workers or had them work from home. Instead, Shane Corp. have paid an advance, and expects the workers to either pay back the wages received, or work unpaid overtime. In effect, Shane staff were paid nothing for the closures. The company took a position to change working hours and designated holidays without the consent of the workers. This unilateral imposition is most probably illegal.
The number of members in the Shane Workers Union continues to surge as many staff have finally lost patience, and are increasingly frustrated at what they see as poor treatment.
It is the position of SWU that Shane Corp. pay 100% furlough allowance for the school closures, without any obligation to pay back or work back the money. We are prepared to volunteer to work overtime as long as it’s paid as overtime.
We hope to negotiate a sensible outcome that is fair to the staff and allows the customers to make up the lessons they missed.
SNA (Tokyo) — May Day came into this world on May 1, 1886, with a general strike to win “eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, and eight hours for what you will.” Three days later, workers gathered in Haymarket Square, Chicago, and clashed with cops sent in to shut them down. At least four civilians and seven officers died. Four workers were later sentenced to death for conspiracy to riot, despite not a shred of evidence. May Day spread beyond the borders of the United States to Europe and elsewhere. Today, we see the eight-hour workday as a social norm, albeit observed more in the breech. But workers shed blood and tears to bequeath this right to us. We should devote one day a year to recognizing those heroes’ achievement and sacrifice.
悪夢のようなコロナ禍を背景に、不要不急とされている労働者の多くは、自らの身を危険にさらして職場に出勤するか、収入減または収入ゼロを覚悟して自宅待機をするという無情な選択肢を迫られています。労働組合として、私たちは、コロナウィルスの拡大阻止と労働者の命と生活を共に守るための措置を、断固要求しなければなりません。
私たちは、2020年５月１日（金）午後２時より、世界初の「電脳メーデー」（オンラインによるメーデー）を開催します。東ゼン労組のメーデーのテーマは「コロナの収束」と「所得保障」という二本の柱からなります。生活費が底をつき、家賃やローン等を支払えない労働者に対して、所得保障のうえで自宅待機を徹底することが絶対に必要です。
「オンラインによるメーデー」っていったいナニ？と思うでしょう。社前で行われる抗議行動なら、東ゼン労組の幟、腕章、要求事項が記載された配布ビラなどがあり、申入れ、路上演説後シュプレヒコールで締めるのが通常のスタイルです。東ゼン労組の「電脳メーデー」は、街に出て声を上げる代わりに、オンラインツール「Zoom」によって、街頭での行動と全く同じ目的を果たすものです。
東ゼン労組の電脳メーデーは、国と使用者に、一人残らず全ての労働者の命を守ることを要求します。不要不急の業界の労働者に対しては、在宅勤務、自宅待機に全額の賃金を、そして、必要不可欠な緊迫した現場で、私たち社会の安全のために今も働いている労働者たちに対しては、「危険手当」の上乗せ支給を求めます。
今こそ、万国の労働者よ、電脳空間で団結しよう!!
Against the backdrop of this nightmarish pandemic, many workers in nonessential industries face an awful dilemma – commute to work, and risk their own and the public health, or stay at home with no or far less income. As a union, we must call for the resolution of both crises, protecting health and income.
On Friday, May 1, 2020, beginning 2pm, we will hold the world’s first virtual street protest. Tozen Union will fight for two pillars for workers – corona containment and income security. Don’t ask workers to stay at home without ensuring they can pay rent and other bills. We must have both and have them now.
What the heck is a “virtual street protest”? At ordinary street protests, we raise the Tozen Union flag, wear armbands, pass out a leaflet with demands, make speeches and a series of shprehicall chants. We state our demands to the public and call out management. Tozen Union Virtual Mayday will do all that over the teleconferencing platform Zoom.
Tozen Union Virtual May Day’s overall theme is that governments and employers must take care of workers, meaning fully pay those in non-essential industries to stay or work at home and guarantee extra hazard pay to heroic essential workers on the frontlines of the war against the virus.
Workers of the world, unite in cyberspace!
[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.
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.”
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.