2004 10 (october)

Inside the “Voice”

News from the General Union (Kansai & Tokai), NUGW Tokyo South, Fukuoka General Union, Kumamoto General Union, and the Langua ge Teachers’ Union of Sendai

Welcome to the ‘Best of the Voice 20022004’. This edition of the ‘Voice’ will cover the best articles that we’ve printed in volume one of the ‘Voice’. This is what we had to say in our lead article in January 2002.

In June 2001, representatives of the General Union (Kansai & Tokai), NUGW Tokyo South, and Fukuoka General Union met in Nagoya to discuss ways to better integrate the work we do. Since we are all unions with many language industry workers, and are all sister unions belonging to the National Union of General Workers, it made sense to work towards a higher level of cooperation.

We decided that a new national “Voice” would be a solid step towards making sure that members, regardless of their local union, have access to the same information regarding our activities.

NOVA, Berlitz, ECC, GEOS, and AEON are but five companies that we need to respond to on a national level, and there-

fore we should further integrate our activities in order to deal with problems with these employers nationwide.

Furthermore, as each local union shares a vast amount of knowledge in the nonprivate sector language industry, we can make sure that members across the country can share this experience. One of the biggest problems faced by language industry workers, both foreign and Japanese, is lack of information, which makes it difficult to deal with problems when they occur.

We hope that this paper will prove to be a good source of information regarding your rights at work and hope that those who use this resource join the union in the future in order to truly protect and improve their rights and those of others.

All the contributing unions in this paper old unions and new alike - have learned one very important thing: We know we can make changes and protect jobs and conditions, if we all work together.

Union member benefits include:  greater job protection and security  improvements in pay and conditions  solidarity with other members  individual rights and security  support in the workplace  information about your rights  a liaison between management  education and training

How do you compare?

Member

Non-member

Pay, benefits and conditions are negotiated and protected by the union.

Union protects members’ rights and ensures fairness.

Union works to solve members’ grievances.

Unions’ campaigns for workers’ impact the good of society.

Changed at the whim of management.

Union protects the interests of all members.

‘BIOTOPE’ Fukuoka NPO office, 4-7-2 Hakataekimae, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka-city

You’re on your own!

If you don’t like it, management will push you out.

Individual campaigns are weakened by management pressure and bureaucracy.

Individuals remain isolated.

Tel/Fax: 092-473-1222 Email: fukuoka-general-union@nifty.com

Osaka-shi, Kita-ku, Temma 2-1-17-3F Tel: 06-6352-9619 Fax: 06-6352-9630 Email: gu@generalunion.org URL: www.generalunion.org

450-0003 Nagoya-shi, Nakamura-ku, Meieki Minami 1-20-11, NPO Plaza Tel/Fax : 052-561-8555 mail: tokai@generalunion.org

Tel: 022-261-4392 Fax: 022-222-7734 Email: ltus@generalunion.org

Tokyo-to, Minato-ku, Shimbashi 5-17-7-2F Tel: 03-3434-0669 Fax: 03-3433-0334 Email: carlet@jca.apc.org

Email: kumamoto@generalunion.org

-Kumamoto General Union- Feb. 2002 The campaign to reinstate KGU's former President and Vice-President came to a climax at the end of January with two days of activities which included a court hearing, the delivery of a 10,000 strong appeal and a well-attended symposium.

10,330 signatures were submitted to the governor of Kumamoto and the president of the Prefectural University of Kumamoto (PUK) on February 1, 2002. Those signatures represent the effort of The Coalition Against Discrimination by the Prefectural University and the Kumamoto General Union (KGU) over four years to arouse public concern and support for our petitions calling upon the Kumamoto Prefectural government and PUK to work actively toward eliminating discriminatory employment conditions and reinstating the two foreign teachers, Dr. Cynthia Worthington and Ms. Sandra Mitchell, who were unfairly dismissed on April 1, 2000 (See Union Voice January issue).

It is now almost two years since their court action for reinstatement began. On January 31, 2002, Cynthia Worthington gave plaintiff's testimony and was able to describe in detail the way the Prefecture

-NUGW Tokyo South- July 2002 The economy in Japan is going down the pan. Banks are running by the seat of their pants, economic growth has been negligible over the last 13 years and unemployment, according to the latest statistics, is at a record high.

Add another drastic twist to Japan's economic woes, very low birth rates and the fact that people are living much longer, and the outlook for wealth production and job security for ordinary working people is very, very gloomy indeed.

The impact of recession-racked Japan on all levels of society is grave. Much talk is made of how the situation could be reversed if only Japan had more flexible labour markets, which really is a euphemism for eroding workers' rights. Indeed, some striking changes to employment conditions have already hit university teachers, and the outlook is bleak on contract and employment issues. Many teachers, mostly part-time, are faced with uncertain working futures. Limited term contracts abound, fuelling concern as to future job stability and number of hours of

and University first promised her full-time employment, and then imposed irregular “part-time� status. The defense has not challenged most of our claims, conceding that they asked us to sign official documents in 1993 accepting employment as full-time teachers and that they reported us to the Ministry of Education as fulltime teachers. They have accepted that they were wrong in believing this was compatible with the part time, special, temporary, irregular employment which they imposed on the teachers from April 1994. They claim that it was an honest mistake, based on mistaken understanding of the Ministry categories. In other words, they have accepted that the foreign teachers at the PUK were right all along when they insisted that only full-time employment would be compatible with the acceptance of employment documents.

The defense has failed to offer any rational explanation for the imposition of term employment on foreign teachers on the basis of nationality. They simply persist with the implausible argument that the 1982 Special Provisory law which allows universities to employ foreign teachers on a full-time basis also gives them carte blanche to impose discriminatory limits

on those teachers. The District court is expected to render its decision by the summer.

The Symposium on February 1, 2002, featured Dr. Ivan Hall and David Aldwinckle (Arudou Debito), as well as Professor Lee Hyun Ok who won her court case for unfair and discriminatory treatment against a private university in Kumamoto last year. It was well and enthusiastically attended by members of the local community, as well as NUGW members arriving in force from Kitakyushu and as far away as Osaka. The media (radio, TV, and newspapers) covered this and the submission of signatures earlier that day. And, for the first time three PUK Japanese faculty members attended a public event sponsored by the KGU and the support group.

Our thanks to all of you who cooperated in the long and difficult effort to collect the large number of signatures to our petitions and supported our union in its effort to redress unreasonable discriminatory employment conditions at PUK and the unfair dismissal of its teachers. We hope it will lead the prefecture and university to take steps to resolve the conflict.

work available. Some universities, in their panic over falling student numbers due to the falling birth rates, are getting in 'dispatch' teachers from such businesses such as Nova and Berlitz to save on labour costs. These businesses supply teachers to a university but siphon off a considerable amount of the salary of those they employ. Moreover, all universities in Japan rely on part-time teachers; Japanese universities have more than 50% of their workforce on a part-time contract of one form or another. This saves a lot of money for the universities and gives them the flexibility to terminate contracts or rewrite them at will. At the full-time employment level, universities are weakening employment conditions through the use of limited term contracts, which are largely renewable at the whim of the university. There have even been reports of some universities abusing contract issues by deliberately leaving it unclear until the hapless teacher is employed and finds out that it is not a tenured post after all, but a limited term contract.

So, is there any hope for university teachers in the future? The answer is, yes, but a

qualified yes. The stark reality is that all the bargaining power concerning university teachers' working conditions is centred within the management of any given university. Generally, teachers' interests are not represented by the teachers themselves (especially the case with part-time teachers), and this means that contract/employment decisions made are always one-sided; management sided, to be more precise. However, there is hope.

The comparatively newly formed University Teachers Union (UTU) is trying to restore some balance in order to give teachers a voice at their place of work.

The UTU's goal is to allow teachers to have a constructive say in the future of all aspects of education and employment issues in Japan. The UTU is affiliated with the National Union of General Workers (Zenrokyo), and is open to all teachers at Universities in Japan. Although it is based in Tokyo, it co-operates with sister unions in Kansai and Kyushu.

Its goal is to engage employers positively in order to address the serious issues that face part-time and full-time university teachers regardless of nationality or gender - issues that will only become more critical in the coming crunch years as student numbers tumble. However, in order for the UTU to make a difference, it needs a large inflow of university teachers

-General Union-October 2002 On October 15, the General Union received a simple document bearing the seal of the Nishinomiya Board of Education (NBofE) stating that the five year contract limits imposed on foreign teachers working at the board would be lifted.

Up to now, teachers employed by the board would only be allowed four contract renewals, but with our new agreement, the contract renewal limits are gone.

Sounds simple? It was and it wasn’t. It wasn’t simple because it took the courage of the teachers involved to stand up and say that they wouldn’t tolerate discriminatory limits on their employment terms any longer. The union members’ thinking was reasonable; why should they lose their jobs once they’re getting good at it, due to a unilateral policy which had no logic to it, especially in terms of quality of education. The General Union was preparing for a long fight over this issue, similar to the struggle over contract limits at the Higashi Osaka Board of Education from 1997 to 2000 (see story inside).

The NBofE must also have been aware of our battle in Higashi Osaka and probably weren’t prepared to have a similar problem at their school board.

It was simple because the board had only a guideline on this issue, not a formal policy. Teachers were simply told that their employment would terminate after five years.

Once we found out that it wasn’t the board’s formal policy we knew that it could be changed without much of a fight, unless they made it a formal policy, which they never did. NBofE foreign teachers will be informed formally on November 1st, in writing, stating that the policy in force up till now regarding contract renewals has been withdrawn.

Teachers were simply told that their employment would terminate after five years.

Nishinomiya teachers will now be able to work on improving their working conditions and their workplaces through union activity without having the five year limits hanging over their heads. The union now needs to use the victory at the NBofE to win the withdrawal of contract limits at other workplaces, especially

Kwansei Gakuin University, where we have a strong branch, which is also located in Nishinomiya. If you are having a similar problem with contract limits, and think that there is no way to deal with the problem, maybe you should think again.

Lessons from Our Past Higashi Osaka Board of Education 1996-2000 On March 4, 1996, the Higashi Osaka Board of Education decided to introduce three-year contract limits for native English teachers. The teachers’ first reaction was disbelief, since nobody could see any reasons for it. The board had been touting this program as a model and there was talk of other cities doing the same thing.

It made no sense to turn out the most experienced teachers after three years.

The teachers felt that their worth was not being recognized by bureaucrats who were not involved in the day-to-day process of education.

A General Union branch was declared one week after the announcement of the contract limits. Some teachers didn’t join, mainly those who were planning to leave and didn’t care. However, a few veteran teachers who were already planning to leave joined the union because the contract limits were wrong.

Two teachers went on hunger strike on March 15, 1999.

The demands included a pay rise and a teacher-training programme but maybe the focus should have stayed more strongly on ending the contract limits to make things less complicated. The demand for a training program was a good one because it showed teachers wanted to be good teachers.

Originally the Board of Education rejected arbitration by the Osaka Labour Commission, but later accepted it. The agreement that was reached was that the teachers who were currently employed would be taken on for two more years, and that this was a temporary measure which would be negotiated again in the future. At some negotiations the board seemed to want to settle the problem, but other times their attitude was, “No. No. No.” Maybe they hoped teachers would give up and go. Throughout the dispute

many demonstrations and leafletings were staged, including the use of a loudspeaker truck at the Board of Education.

Originally the Board of Education rejected arbitration by the Osaka Labour Commission, but later accepted it.

The mayor of Higashi Osaka was forced to resign in 1998 because of pension fraud. During the subsequent mayoral election the union approached the candidates, but only one, Mr. Nagao, was sympathetic and offered to meet the union whether he won or not. He ended up winning, but when he met with the teachers he said he would tell the board to negotiate but wouldn’t interfere with their jobs.

Two teachers went on hunger strike on March 15, 1999. We called it off on doctor’s advice after only two and a half days.

“If you think you’re right, fight for it, and never give up.”

March 31 was the last day of one of the member’s contract, but it was also the day that the superintendent of education was notified that his contract would not be renewed. There were rumours that he had tried to bribe the mayor into renewing his contract.

The members all fought hard, but in March 2000 it was accepted that our dispute was lost.

We must learn from both our successes and our failures, but if you think you’re right, fight for it, and never give up. What happened at Higashi Osaka may mean that other education authorities won’t want to go through the same thing. They know what we’re capable of.

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If you are fired, except in the most extreme situations, your employer must give you 30 days notice or 30 days pay in lieu of notice.

Do not negotiate with your employer over your severance as this may mean that you accept the dismissal. Call the Union.

-General Union- Mar. 2002 -General Unionfrom www.generalunion.org/nova In a knee-jerk reaction to the arrest of an instructor on drug charges, Nova management unilaterally decided to openly discriminate against its foreign employees by implementing a drug testing policy that excluded Japanese staff. Management attempted to force teachers to sign a letter of consent for mandatory drug testing.

Teachers were threatened with instant dismissal if they refused to sign the agreement. "Sign or pack your things," was the motto of the day. Faced with the threat of unemployment, many teachers elected to sign. Teachers were forbidden to take copies of the consent letters, nor were they given time to seek legal advice.

Existing Nova union members took the initiative in advising coworkers of their rights. As a result, a number of schools saw an overwhelming majority of teachers rejecting Nova's ultimatum and refusing to sign the letter. Frantic phone calls across Kansai ensured standing room only at a hastily convened meeting of the General Union Nova Union Branch on the Sunday (Sept 10th) immediately following the announcement.Demands were formulated; press conferences held. This violation of human rights was spurring NOVA employees across the country to act, seeing the birth of the General Union-Nova branch (Kansai) and National Union of General Workers-Nova Union Branch (Kanto). It was a tumultuous time with hundreds of people joining both unions on mass and participating in demonstrations.

The rallying cry was "Saruhashi (NOVA owner) can piss all he wants but we ain't pissing for Nova."

With the threat of industrial action Nova was forced to back down on the issue. The fate of such testing was sealed when on 25th July 1995, the Human Rights Committee of the Osaka Bar Association ruled that the testing was not only discriminatory as it was aimed at only foreign employees but also a violation of instructors' human rights.

While the clause still remains in the contract, Nova has quietly backed away from the issue, having never tested a single person.

The American English Academy case was finally settled through the mediation of the Osaka Labour Commission on 30 January.

In December 2000 the union sent a demand to the company for payment of unpaid wages, but after several such letters and even demands for collective bargaining were ignored, the union had to take action. Preparations for a picketing were quite far advanced, but in the end, in October last year, we decided to try mediation at the Labour Commission. The commissioners worked very hard to convince the company that they could not refuse payment or pull out of the talks; obviously the union would simply go ahead and file a full unfair labour practices case against them.

The settlement reached involved payment of unpaid wages, and a written apology from the company to the union in which they admitted their lack of understanding of labour law, and promised to study it in order to avoid this kind of dispute in the future.

It was a long-drawn out dispute, but one that the union, in line with its ‘zero tolerance’ policy, was determined to win.

If anyone has had a similar problem at this company over the past two years, please let us know.

-General Union- Dec. 2003 John M. Christiansen, 49, operator of the American English Academy (3 schools in Suita City, Osaka) and his wife, Mitsuko Kagawa (aka Kondo), were arrested on 25 November by Ibaraki Labour Standards Office (LSO) on suspicion of violating the Labour Standards Law (unpaid wages).

The General Union has heard of many cases of unpaid wages with this company since 1996. Most recently, we managed to get payment of one teacher’s wages and an apology through mediation in January last year at the Osaka Labour Commission.

The arrests were inevitable considering that the LSO had already given the company 6 warnings and prosecuted twice.

The problem was that the company still showed no real intention of improving the situation.

Our union has long been pushing for the LSO to use their powers more against recalcitrant companies, and this, the first arrest of its kind in Osaka for 14 years, is a great step forward.

We will now be pushing the LSO to take harsher action against all those companies who refuse their orders, and not to wait till the seventh refusal.

You can find a copy of the National Union ‘VOICE’, published by the National Union of General Workers, at the following establishments.

Also, read the ‘VOICE’ online at www.generalunion.org Osaka Area: Balabushka (Shinsaibashi), The Fukuoka Area: Sakae Sushi, Kambal Cellar (Shinsaibashi), Pig and Whistle, Tin’s Hall (Tennoji), Tramps (Kyobashi), Green Leaf, Murphy’s Irish Pub, The Playpen (Osaka), Banana House, The Blarney Stone, Moriguchi International House, Tabunka Kyosei Centre.

Kobe Area: Hyogo International Plaza, Ryan’s Irish Pub (Sannomiya).

Kyoto Area: Café Independent, The Hill of Tara, Peace Café, Tadg’s Irish Pub. Nara Area: Nara Information Foundation.

Restaurant.

Kanto Area: Dubliners (Shinjuku), Dope Music Bar FOGGY, Franziskaner Bar and Grill, XYZ Bar, Paddy Foleys, Sid’s Bar, Club Deja-Vu, The Bodhran.

Nagoya Area: Queen’s Head, Pub Restaurant Usquebaugh, Marky’s, Pelican Pete’s, NPO Plaza, Tokuzo, Jazz Room Exit, Nagoya International Centre, The Elephant’s Nest, The Creek, The Misfits, The Plastic Factory, Dining Bar Vita.

-General Union-Feb. 2004 On 24 December last year, faced with Nichibei’s bad faith in collective bargaining, and their refusal to attempt to settle their labour problems in conciliation at the Labour Commission, the General Union filed an Unfair Labour Practice case at Osaka Labour Commission. Nichibei is accused of ‘Bad faith negotiation’, tantamount to refusal of collective bargaining, along with ‘control and interference’ and ‘disadvantageous treatment’ of union members. These are all violations of Trade Union Law, article 7.

Nichibei is no stranger to the Labour Commission. This is in fact the 3rd time they have been sued there, the other two being on 12 May 1998 and 24 September 1999, both times for flagrant unionbusting, and both ending in a total victory for the General Union.

The 1st investigation in this case took place on 16 January. Nichibei got off to a less than flying start, submitting their ‘Tobensho’ (official reply to the union’s allegations) late. This document was nothing but a long-winded exercise in trying to

divert the attention of the Labour Commission from the main point of the case— bad faith negotiation over their financial condition.

1992: Pay freeze announced. New pay rise system promised for 1993. Still waiting, GU demands rises in ‘98.

1998: ‘In the red’ ‘Lost 20 million last year’ 2001: ‘You’re getting pay rises through commissions’ (Truth: we were getting less than in 1995) 2002: ‘We’re 5 million in the red’ ‘We cannot give you (union members) a pay rise while continuing to cut jobs and pay for the vast majority of other employees’ (we found out that Nichibei’s profits were actually ‘soaring’, according to one business research group. And the continuing layoffs and pay cuts? You guessed it: hogwash.

‘We’re not saying we’re not making money’ (later denied to the Labour Commission. New version: ‘We never said that we’re not saying we’re not making money’). Uh… 2003: Finances: ‘Good and Bad’ ‘Up and

NOVA Paid Holidays I am a NOVA teacher in Kansai. What is the law regarding resigning teachers’ holiday pay several months into a contract renewal? I am aware that we can’t take any paid leave until we have worked 6 months, and it seems strange that this condition applies to every new contract (no consideration of several years’ service). It seems that there is no pro-rata system.

If we work 4 months into a new contract (and resign) are we not eligible for a percentage of holiday pay? Is this the law?

- Osaka Teacher

first six months of your FIRST employment contract. After the first six months of employment is completed, you are eligible for ten days of paid holidays to be used for one year. Therefore from 0.5 years to 1.5 years you have ten days, and can use these days for the last half of your first year contract and the first half of your second year contract. You therefore have paid holidays immediately in your second year contract.

After six months of your second year contract is completed, you are eligible for eleven days of holidays.

In Japan, there is no pro rata system for paid holidays. Once you have passed the first six months or each subsequent year, you are eligible for your next lot of holidays.

Having checked into the NOVA system, we know that its paid holiday system is within the law, but at the bare minimum level. Confusion is caused because your holiday dates and contract dates don’t match and this is caused by NOVA giving paid holidays only after the first six months, unlike many other language schools that give you your paid holidays from your first day of employment.

I am currently employed with NOVA and have recently signed a second contract. I have a question pertaining to vacation time. Is anything being done about the six months a teacher has to let pass in each contract before being eligible for vacation time? This is a very sensitive subject for me as I will be needing vacation time with only three months into my second contract and am nervous I won’t be able to get it. - Teacher G in Osaka Answer from the Editor You cannot use any paid holidays in the

down’ ‘Botchi-botchi’ ‘tight’. Meanwhile, they have opened 2 new schools in central Tokyo within the last year, and hired new teachers to take over the union full-timers’ lessons, thus increasing their personnel costs dramatically. Quite the financial crisis! Nichibei starts a performancebased pay rise system. Union members get nothing. New discovery by Nichibei: ‘We’ve always managed to stay in the black’.

Don’t worry, we’re confused too. Welcome to the weird world of Nichibei’s negotiating style. For years they didn’t need to persuade anyone; they just contradicted themselves merrily, and if anyone objected, they were told ‘If you don’t like it, you can go back to your home country.

We can replace you any time’.

Now, however, they have to explain their logic and defend their honesty to a government agency. They fouled up royally last time, and there’s no sign that it will be any different this time round – despite them turning up with a new lawyer. The last one who lost 3 civil court cases for them against us obviously became one of the ‘job losses’ they go on about.

Anyway, in addition to all this nonsense, the company has taken away union members’ group lessons, and put us in a storeroom with broken chairs —they call it the ‘presidential library’—away from the school, while telling the students in leaflets that we are ‘lacking in the consciousness of the responsibility that goes with the job of teacher’.

Sad to say, Nichibei has again decided to have an unpleasant relationship with the union. They recently slandered the union to a new teacher (“They’re always wandering about. I don’t know what they do all day long. As far as I know, they do nothing. If they say anything strange to you, anything you don’t understand, come to me”). He came straight to us, as any sane person would.

ON STRIKE!

-General Union- May 2002 On April 21st, AEON became the last of the big five national eikaiwa chains to enroll their foreign employees into the unemployment insurance (UI) scheme as required by law. This came about after the GU made its first true contact with AEON regarding a grievance over a contract nonrenewal. We weren’t able to solve the individual’s problem due to the weakness of the case and our lack of any formal relationship with AEON, but we were able to solve the outstanding UI problem and get the company to agree to a formal grievance procedure, such as we have at other companies. We were also able to make some good contacts amongst teachers and found some very interesting information that would make organizing a union at AEON a very beneficial experience for workers there.

It appears that AEON teachers and staff are being cheated out of their paid holidays. AEON offers only five flexible days while the Labour Standards Law makes ten days the minimum in your first year.

It’s sad that about six years after all major companies agreed to follow the law at the insistence of the union, AEON workers still don’t have their proper paid holidays.

Why? Simple. AEON teachers and staff have never organized a union.

The GU hopes to rectify this situation and on April 19th sent information to all AEON teachers and staff asking them to take a stand to improve their own working conditions. We hope that soon, our fellow workers at AEON will be members of the General Union.

In the August 2004 edition of the ‘Voice’ an article appeared under the headline ‘British Council Settlement’. In this article it states, “With the Council attempting to invoke diplomatic immunity…” BC never claimed diplomatic immunity as stated in the article. The GU was concerned that BC would claim immunity and therefore spent much time researching the issue. We apologize for this error.

-NUGW Tokyo South- Dec. 2003 The Tokyo Local Labor Relations Commission on Nov. 26 handed down a redress injunction for unfair labor practices. “Tokyo Metropolitan Government must agree to collective bargaining talks in good faith whenever the union demands collective bargaining talks to discuss terms of employment of English-language and other instructors who are foreign nationals and union members.”

The Union of Foreign Teachers at Tokyo Metropolitan Kokusai High School won an important victory on Nov. 26 in an ongoing dispute at the Tokyo Local Labor Relations Commission over the refusal to negotiate with the union. The injunction demands that Tokyo Metropolitan Government negotiate in good faith. This is the first step, after a long struggle, towards a decisive victory.

Foreign national instructors at Tokyo Kokusai High School formed a union in May 2000. Since the last collective bar-

gaining talks in October 2000, however, the Tokyo Board of Education refused any negotiations, asserting that “Foreign English-language and other instructors are not technically workers because they are on special ‘i-nin’ or ‘proxy’ contracts.”

After establishing the actual working conditions of the foreign instructors employed on the “proxy” contracts, the labor commission recognized their status as workers and ordered Tokyo Metropolitan Government to hold collective bargaining talks in good faith. The board also recognized Tokyo’s obligation to negotiate improving the terms of employment for the next academic year for those yet without contracts.

This is a crucial ruling in light of the soaring number of local government employees without worker status or with nonstandard worker status. We will continue to lobby the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Tokyo metropolitan assembly in our fight to stop Tokyo Metropolitan Government from committing unfair labor practices. We count on your continued support.

のベスト ニュース

労使一体で２万人近い首切り を強行した松下電器で、外国人 職員へもリストラが強行された が、数十名もの仲間がユニオン への加盟、反撃が始まってい る。松下は、語学講師など海外 事業関連の研修・開発部門など に外国人雇用が多い。ところが 突然、会社から「全員この５月 末で子会社であるエクセルイン ターナショナルに自動的に移籍 する」という発表が行われた。 このアウトオブソーシングは、 「松下を退職し、再雇用」の手 続きが必要なハズなのに、解雇 通告もなく、退職同意さえ求め られなかった。それなのに、移 籍に伴い、全員の賃金を１５％ カット、ボーナスや退職金も廃 止。というズサンかつヒドイも のだった。 ５月１６日それらの撤回を求 める要求２２項目を会社に提出 し、交渉が重ねられた。予想に 反して松下本社も、幸之助の銅 像と「松下は物でなく人をつく る」の語録のある本社におい て、子会社と一緒にテーブルに ついた。こうなったらユニオン 勝利の方程式、７月２４日に は、損害賠償や「ユニオンとの 苦情処理協約」を含む「確認 書」を、松下電器と子会社とユ ニオンの３者連名の調印で勝ち 取った。 しかし８月、賃下げの復元な どの肝心な議題に入ると、会社 は、耳を疑う団交拒否理由を言 い始めた。「外国人職員の仕事 は、雇用でなく委任であった。 従業員でもないから、労基法や 労組法を守る義務はない」とい う信じられないものだった。何 年も松下の職員として働いてき た組合員は怒りをもって、反証 を開始した。「契約書に『雇 用』と記載」「入管に雇用証明

書を提出」「仕事の日時・場 所・内容を会社が管理」「定年 や退職金がある」といった決定 的な雇用の証拠で追及した。会 社の答弁はシドロモドロで、 「社内製品割引・保養所利用や 健康保険の補助」などもしてき たので、従業員みたいだが、 「雇用的委任」だ。という苦し いものであった。 とはいえ、こんな弱点を露呈 しながら、かつ労使協定もでき た段階で、労組への否認ともい える団交拒否を開始するのだか ら、いかに御用組合しか知らな かったからと言っても、松下の 労働法や労働運動への認識はお 粗末そのものである。ユニオン は、「団交拒否と労組への支配 介入」の不当労働行為と、「委 任という偽装請負」を大阪地労 委に訴え、松下の違法かつ、非 人間的経営を内外に公表する。 労働法を守りたくない悪質な 会社が、「雇用」を、労働者個 人への業務の「委任・委託」だ と、カモフラージュする「偽装 請負」が増えています。そのた めゼネラルユニオンでは、識別 ポイントを明確にし、安定雇用 のため、契約書の点検をよびか けています。 「委任・委託」は、下請け契 約ですので、労働者？も一人の 会社と同じです。あなたは、 「雇用主である会社の社員」と 信じているかもしれませんが、 そんな詐欺もあるのです。 委任・委託とは会社は元請と なり、出張は発注となります。 それを請負う代金や消費税が話 し合われますが、一切の公的保 険はありません。労災保険(通勤 途上を含む)や、労働ＶＩＳＡも ないので、問題発生の時に、言 ２００４年１０月

ナショナルユニオン

っていく所がありません。仕事 を何時・何処でどのようにやり 遂げる、などの段取りと管理 も、受注した者の責任と自由裁 量です。雇用とは、就業日時や 準備・出張など、すべて雇用し た会社からの業務命令で指定の うえ管理されます。毎月の給料 日に「従業員への賃金支払い」 となります。税金は所得税で、 会社が源泉徴収します。労働基 準法が適用され、時間外手当割 増や年次有給休暇もあります。 公的健康保険や雇用保険にも入 れます。労働ＶＩＳＡも取得で きます。 派遣とは労働者派遣法」でい う適法な「派遣」は、労働者 は、派遣業の免許を持つ派遣元 会社に雇用され、派遣先での仕 事が命じられます。管理は派遣 先にのみあり、その指揮下で働 きます。同じ派遣元は１年が上 限で、派遣先での直接雇用にな るか、派遣先が変わるかの選択 となります。労働法や保険は全 面適用です。 【但、日本の教員免許がない 外国人講師は、一人だけの授業 はできません】学校の講師を例 にとれば、「何日の何時から、 この教科書を使って、どこの学 校で、」という指示は、基本契 約をしている会社がすべて管理 していることになり、雇用その ものです。だからこれらは「管 理は誰が？」で区別できます し、契約書・支払明細・税金な どでも明瞭です。いずれにして も、高度な翻訳業などに例外が あるものの、講師の委任・委託 は考えられず、労働法から逃 れ、首切りをしやすくする方便 だ、と考えられます。

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ゼネラルユニオン(関西・東海)、全国一般東京南部、福岡ゼネラルユニオン、熊本ゼネラルユニオン、仙台外国語教員労 組

ゼネラルユニオン 今まで高校の外国人語学講師を雇用 してきた大阪府教委は、今春増員分を 派遣に切り替えてきた。ＥＣＣの派遣 会社が入札に勝利し、別会社であるハ ズのＥＣＣ本社も出張強制などで強引 な人集めに加担してきた。だが授業初 日に出勤したのは 18 名だけで、25 校 の授業に穴が空き、大騒ぎとなった。 この原因は、週 3 日で月 16 万円、Ｖ ＩＳＡは取れない、という中途半端な 待遇や、府教委の「業者まかせ」にも あった。 朝日や毎日がこのドタキャンをスク ープ、ゼネラルユニオンの見解を大き く報道した。そして府教委・派 遣会 社・ＥＣＣの何れにも組合員がいるユ ニオンとして、7 月 16 日府教委に団交 を申入れた。労基法・派遣法・入管 法・社会保険各法違反の摘発が中心だ が、「外国人使い捨てで、違法な派遣 は中止し、まともな雇用に戻せ。派遣 労働者も府教委の直接雇用にせよ」と いうのが要求である。 もし拒否の場合、ユニオンは、法違 反のすべてを告発し、「こんな形では 働かないキャンペーン」で、来年度の 派遣授業を拒否するであろう。また 「委託・委任」など違法な請負をさせ ている教委もあり、府の責任は大き い。

「講師は生徒と交わってはならな い」という前代未聞の雇用契約のサ インを強制しているＮＯＶＡ本社 に、２月 24 日人権侵害の判定が下っ た。校則、いや刑務所のような禁止 事項を持つＮＯＶＡでは、ゼネラル ユニオンに寄せられるトラブルが絶 えなかった。 「生徒にＥメールを教えてくれ、 と言われて教えた」から「婚約」ま で、あらゆる出会いに、本社は解雇 や処分を連発してきた。ユニオンは 再三の要求と警告を行い、抗議すれ ば、解雇や処分はごまかすものの、 契約条項の削除には応じなかった。 そこで大阪弁護士会人権擁護委に訴 えたものであるが、委員会は、本社

関東：全国一般東京南部

関西：ゼネラルユニオン

東京都港区新橋 5-17-7-2F Tel: 03-3434-0669 Fax: 03-3433-0334 Email: nugw_ts@jca.apc.org URL: www.ktuf.org

大阪市北区天満 2-1-17-3F Tel: 06-6352-9619 Fax: 06-6352-9630 Email: gu@generalunion.org URL: www.generalunion.org

仙台外国語教員労組 Tel: 022-261-4392 Fax: 022-222-7734 Email: ltus@generalunion.org

福岡ゼネラルユニオン 春日市春日原北町 1-3-24-207 Tel/Fax: 092-573-3094 Email: GZC05153@nifty.ne.jp

ヒアリングや調査のすえ、「契約書 からの削除と、解雇処分禁止」を明 確に勧告した。以前の「薬物検査強 制禁止」勧告も、未だ本社が拒否し 続けていることが、心証をさらに悪 くさせたのだろう。 こうした条項の本音は、「直接プ ライベートレッスン」をやられた ら、商売あがったり、ということだ が、本社は記者会見で「生徒は若い 女性が多くて無防備。講師も異文化 に慣れていない」のでと、反論し た。しかしこれではまるで外国人が 危険であるかのようであり、授業料 の相当部分を投入している広告の 「異文化交流」の本質が暴露されて しまった。

名古屋市千種区内山 3-28-2-5F Tel/Fax: 052-735-9704 Email: tokai@generalunion.org URL: www.generalunion.org

熊本ゼネラルユニオン Email: kumamoto@generalunion.org

全 国 一 般 労 働 組 合 全 国 協 議 会