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General Union
ゼネラルユニオン (zeneraru yunion)
FoundedJune 1991
AffiliationsNational Trade Union Council (全労協),National Union of General Workers (全国一般全国協議会)
WebsiteGeneral Union Website

Founded in 1991, the General Union (ゼネラルユニオン, zeneraru yunion) is a labor union headquartered in Osaka, Japan. It mainly represents teachers and staff who are employed in language education at private conversation schools, high schools and universities in the Kansai and Chubu regions of Japan. Recently the union has started major organizing drives among South American workers in Japan. Union members work at universities such as Ritsumeikan University, and language schools such as ECC, Berlitz and Gaba.

The General Union is under the umbrella of the National Union of General Workers, which is itself part of Zenrokyo (全国労働組合連絡協議会?, "National Trade Unions Council") one of the three major trade union federations in Japan.

The chair of the General Union is Katsuji Yamahara and the General Secretary is Dennis Tesolat.

Founding of the union

With the founding of the Osaka Zenrokyo (a local area affiliated to Zenrokyo, National Trade Union Council) on 2 February 1991, it was decided that a general union type union was necessary to help both individual workers and groups of otherwise unorganized workers deal with their employment problems.

On 12 June 1991, the General Union was founded at a meeting at Apio Osaka. During the preparatory period prior to the founding the General Union had already organized a union branch at ELC Junior among female Japanese teachers. In May, the union's first foreign member had joined from HAL English School regarding a dispute with wages. By its founding the General Union had already started to establish itself among language school teachers and foreign language teachers.

During its first year the union also became involved with study groups for civil servants' employment rights, and established links with other immigrant groups namely Asian Friends (a joint employment problems hotline was run on 2 and 3 September) and with RINK (Rights of Immigrants Network in Kansai) in which the General Union was a founding organization.

While the union's attempts to establish itself among civil servants did not bear fruit, the union's work with foreign language teachers continued to expand. In 1991, the union also dealt with employment problems at Neverland English School (paid holidays, unpaid wages), OIC (Oxford), and IES.

Early history

Believing that there was a need for a larger union presence in English language schools the General Union held two public meetings for foreign teachers. On 23 March 1992 the first meeting signed up 60 new members and was reported widely in the press.

1992 also brought the first non-English speaking foreign workers to the union. The union represented Filipino workers at Tanaka Metal Works and Brazilian dispatch workers in Gunma at Takechi Rubber.

The General Union's first branch representing foreign university teachers was founded at Hannan University. The union's intervention prevented the university from lowering the per class rate for teachers.

In what would become a precursor to the union's campaigns over social insurance in the late 1990s and throughout 2000, the union held a seminar titled, "Social Insurance and Tax for foreigners" on 8 November 1992.

A strike winning two months' bonus at ELC Junior on 17 July 1992 also marked the union's first strike.

In 1993 the GU's first major language school branches were formed. Union members participated in the 1993 Shunto. One picketed employer was IES regarding a Canadian English teacher who was dismissed.

By the end of August the union claimed 100 members and had four workplace branches. One branch consisted of foreign instructors working for Interac. The Interac Branch was formed in May and by August had already gone on strike against unfair labour practices regarding the dismissal of a union member. The company later withdrew the dismissal and the strike was won. This first strike at Interac would mark the beginning of a long dispute between the union and the company and would give the union its first major nationwide coverage on prime time television and newspapers.

By the end of 1993 the union claimed 140 members, almost half of whom were Japanese, and two more language school branches; Osaka YMCA and Berlitz.

1994 saw the bankruptcies of two language schools in Japan. On 25 March Attony went bankrupt and teachers formed a General Union branch in order to deal with their lost wages. The General Union's experience with Attony was then used to help teachers at Bilingual which went bankrupt on 25 July. These were the first of more bankruptcies that would follow in the 90s and ending with the major NOVA bankruptcy in 2007.

Another major event of 1994 in the language teaching industry was the September arrest of a NOVA teacher for possession of marijuana. This led the school to demand the drug testing of all its foreign employees. On 6 September, the General Union NOVA branch was declared to the company. Union members refused to be drug tested which led to the 18 September visit by NOVA executive officer, Anders Lundqvist, to apologize for the company's policy. The policy though abandoned would lead to later conflict as the company refused to remove the drug testing stipulation from the employment contract.

The General Union founded more union branches in this year. On 17 May the union's Nichibei Eigo Gakuin branch was formed at its first collective agreement was secured. In the university sector the General Union started its long battle against contract renewal limits. On 31 March a union member was fired by Osaka Gakuin University after three year contract limits were opposed. The union's battle went to the Supreme Court of Japan and was featured in a Newsweek article. Seven teachers at Otemon Gakuin University also joined the university and formed a branch to fight contract renewals. The union was able to save all the members' jobs.

Union's campaign to win health and pension rights for foreign workers

Due to pressure from the General Union, in March 2005, the Japanese Government's Social Insurance Agency began to investigate English language schools in Japan for non-payment of Social Insurance (社会保険,, Shakai Hoken). In general, non-enrollment of full-time employees is illegal in Japan—the Health Insurance Law and Employees' Pension Law stipulate that companies must enroll all workers who have been in Japan for over two months in both the health insurance and pension systems, regardless of nationality. Shakai Hoken cover for employees also includes sickness and injury allowance. The burden of payment is split between employer and employee, with each paying about half the monthly premium amount.[1] The General Union (Osaka) has official consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).[2]

Structure of the union

The general union consists of three main areas, the Industrial and Commercial Sector, the Schools and Colleges Sector, and the Private Language Industry Sector.

Industrial and Commercial Sector

This area of the GU is focused on workers in factories and other industrial employment.

Schools and Colleges Sector

This area of the GU is focused on workers employed in schools and universities.

Private Language Industry

This area of the GU is focused on the teaching of language in the private sector, including workers at eikaiwas and working as [[|Assistant Language Teacher|ALTs]].

ECC branch

The GU branch of the Osaka-based English conversation school ECC GU branch was declared on February 26 1996.[3] Since then the union has achieved quite a few things at ECC, including English pay slips, flexible paid holidays, unemployment insurance, health and pension insurance, a toll-free number for Kinki district sub-teachers, improved emergency evacuation procedures, an agreement to consult with the union over major changes to working conditions, and mandatory training is now conducted during working hours (or else paid at overtime rates).[4]

Interac branch

The GU branch of Interac, a company that dispatches teachers to various companies and public schools, was declared on May 25 1993. A number of teachers who wanted to improve conditions joined the GU. Negotiations were not fruitful and the union went to dispute mode, with strikes, picketing, and the dispute received a large amount of press coverage.[5]

In 2007 the GU surveyed boards of education in Osaka prefecture, and found that 23 of them were employing Assistant Language Teachers through illegal itaku contracts. The union reported this to the Osaka Labor Bureau and the boards of education were ordered to stop.[6]

2009 was a busy year for the GU Interac branch. Interac teachers working at Kurashiki in Okayama prefecture, approached the local board of education. They sought to be hired directly, rather than being employed by Interac and dispatched. The board of education refused the teachers, who then approached the GU. The GU took up the case on their behalf, and after threats of losing their jobs and attempts to evict teachers from city-provided accommodation, the GU won direct hire for 4 out of 7 members from the Kurashiki board of education, and the other three members got dispatch positions in other areas in Okayama.[7]

The GU also demanded that Interac enroll all its teachers in unemployment insurance.[8]

In Autumn 2009 the GU sent a survey to all the city boards of education in Aichi prefecture. 16 replied that they used teachers on itaku contracts. On October 19 2009, the GU sued Interac at the Osaka Labor Commission, submitted documents to the Aichi labor bureau, and visited the Aichi Prefectural Board of Education to inform the board of education that it was allowing illegal itaku contracts, the use of which breached the dispatch law and the employment security law.[9]

In response to the Labor Commission case brought by the GU against Interac, on July 26, 2010 the Osaka Labor Commission ruled that Interac had committed an unfair labor practice by refusing to hold collective bargaining with the union. As a result, Interac was ordered to hand-deliver an apology to the union, and banned from bidding on government projects in Osaka Prefecture.[10] Interac appealed the ruling to the Central Labor Commission in Tokyo, and on February 28th 2011 a settlement was brokered between Interac and the GU.[11]

Gaba branch

General Union Gaba branch establishment and early discussions

Although the General Union generally is responsible for the Kansai area, in 2007 it became involved in a campaign to organize instructors in the Tokyo-based English conversation school Gaba. On 6 September 2007, a union of Gaba's instructors was formed.[12]

Union representatives had many discussions with the company around 2007. In 2007, Gaba raised its base lesson rate pay from 1,400 yen per lesson to 1,500 yen per lesson for unbelted instructors, and also raised the lesson rates for belted instructors. In addition, contract lengths were increased from four to six months, but no other changes were forthcoming. The General Union has long claimed that these changes were due to union pressure,[13] but Gaba has maintained that the changes were being discussed in 2006, before the union came to Gaba, and that the changes were not related to union pressure.

First Labor Commission case

The union then took an unfair labor practice case through the Osaka Labor Commission claiming that Gaba had not negotiated in good faith, which they are required to do under article 7 of the Trade Union law,[14] and also to have instructors recognized as employees, not "entrusted independent"[15] itaku (sub-contractors) which Gaba currently states they are.

The Osaka Labor Commission case ran from July 2008 to August 2009. A ruling was given on Christmas Eve 2009. It stated that Gaba had not committed an unfair labor practice, because it had negotiated in good faith with the union. This was a victory for Gaba. However, the 35-page decision by the Labor Commission also included language that implied that Gaba's instructor contracting system had elements of labor and that Gaba instructors had the right to organize 'as employees'. This language was in turn interpreted by the General Union as a decision on the status of instructors, and through their web page declared that Gaba instructors are not itaku but employees under the trade union law.[16] This did not immediately change the employment situation for Gaba instructors but the union said it would use this to win standard employment benefits (paid leave, unemployment insurance, health insurance, etc.) which Gaba does not currently give to instructors under their itaku contracts.[17]

Despite winning the unfair labor practice case, Gaba was dissatisfied with the wording of the original ruling, specifically the references to the instructor contracting having elements of labor under the trade union law, and appealed to have the wording of the ruling amended to the Central Labor Commission in Tokyo.[18] Hearings were held from March to July 2010.

On October 28, 2010, after several times encouraging Gaba to reach some form of compromise with the union, the Central Labor Commission rejected the company's claim to have the language in the original ruling by the Osaka Labor Commission changed, stating that Gaba's claim had "no merit".[19] The Central Labor Committee dismissed Gaba's claim because they didn't have enough information either way and they felt it should be decided by a lower court (the Osaka Labor Committee). Despite the inconclusive nature of this decision, it was again interpreted by the General Union as a ruling that Gaba instructors are employees under trade union law, and they again announced a victory on their web site.[20] Gaba then sued the Central Labor Commission in Tokyo District Court for rejecting their appeal, and the first hearing was held on January 19, 2011.[21] As the Central Labor Commission is a government body under the umbrella of the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, this meant that the company was suing a Japanese government agency.[22] The court's decision was handed down on July 27, 2011, and Gaba's appeal was rejected. The company appealed this to the Tokyo High Court, and the first hearing took place on November 15 2011.[23] After negotiations with the union the company agreed to withdraw this case and recognize the rights of its instructors under trade union law.[24][25]

Hello Work

In August 2010, union members lodged applications with the Shibuya Hello Work office to be enrolled in unemployment insurance.[26] After Hello Work had taken no action for almost a year, in June 2011, the GU made a formal complaint, in response to which Hello Work apologized and said they would launch an investigation immediately.[27] The applications were later withdrawn by the GU as part of an agreement signed with Gaba.

SESC complaint

On October 4, 2010, the General Union made an official complaint to the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission,[28] part of the Financial Services Agency, over compliance issues based on Gaba stating in its report for the 2009 financial year that there was no union at the company, and that labor relations were "smooth and harmonious", and also for failing to mention the Osaka Labor Commission case and Gaba's subsequent appeal to the Central Labor Commission in Tokyo.[18][29]

Libel lawsuit

In addition to suing the government, Gaba decided to sue the General Union for libel, over an article on the union webpage dealing with Gaba's compliance. The company sued the union for 58 million yen in damages and legal costs.[30] The first hearing was held on January 28, 2011, at the Tokyo District Court, and the company's suit was dismissed in November 2011.[31] After negotiations with the union Gaba agreed not to appeal their loss.[32][33]

Further Labor Commission case

After Gaba sued the General Union for libel, the union lodged another unfair labor practice, asking that the Osaka Labor Commission have Gaba cease interfering in union activities, withdraw their demand that the union remove the news article from their website, not intimidate the union and its members by litigation and other means, that then-majority stockholder Daiwa Securities negotiate with the union, and that Gaba pay the union 58,200,000 yen (the amount Gaba sued the union for) for interfering with union activities, and publicly apologize. The case was lodged on May 16, 2011, and was expected to last for some time.[34] The union and Gaba signed an agreement in April 2012, and the case was withdrawn.[35]

General Union demonstration at Umeda Learning Studio, Osaka
Non-renewal of union branch chair

After over 8 years as a Gaba instructor,[36] Gaba non-renewed the contract of Francis Strange, the chair of the Gaba branch of the General Union, effective November 1 2011. The union viewed this as union busting, and in October the union demonstrated and leafleted Learning Studios in Osaka and Tokyo, and negotiated with Gaba and new owner Nichii Gakkan in an effort to reverse the non-renewal.[37] After negotiations Gaba agreed to rehire Strange and he returned to work on February 12 2012.[38]

General Union and Gaba sign agreement

In April 2012[39] Gaba and the General Union signed an agreement in which both sides withdrew their pending cases in the courts and government bureaucracy. Gaba agreed to negotiate in good faith on the issue of employment status and benefits for instructors.[40]

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ "English schools face huge insurance probe". The Japan Times. April 12, 2005. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
  2. ^ "ECOSOC Roster Consultative Status since 2005". esa.un.org. February 17, 2006. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  3. ^ General Union website ECC Union History - 1996
  4. ^ General Union website General Union ECC Branch ECC支部
  5. ^ General Union "10 Years of the General Union" Page 19.
  6. ^ General Union website Union takes action against Interac and Aichi schools
  7. ^ General Union website Kurashiki BoE says goodbye to Interac - Union wins direct employment for teachers
  8. ^ General Union website GU Demands Unemployment Insurance
  9. ^ General Union website Union takes action against Interac and Aichi schools
  10. ^ General Union website Interac banned from Osaka prefectural projects
  11. ^ General Union website General Union and Interac settle at the Central Labour Commission Retrieved on August 8th 2011
  12. ^ National Union Voice, October 2007 Issue: GABA Workers Demand Dignity at Work Retrieved on August 31, 2010.
  13. ^ General Union website, Gaba page Retrieved on August 31, 2010
  14. ^ JILPT website Trade Union Act Retrieved on October 31, 2010
  15. ^ Gaba website [Gaba Specifics http://careers.gaba.co.jp/overseas/specifics.html] Retrieved on October 31, 2010
  16. ^ General Union website Gaba teachers "Employees" not "subcontractors" Retrieved September 30, 2010
  17. ^ General Union website Round One To The Union Retrieved August 31, 2010
  18. ^ a b McCrostie, James, "Gaba teachers challenge 'contractor' status", Japan Times, 19 October 2010, p. 12-13.
  19. ^ General Union website Gaba appeal rejected, sues government Retrieved on March 3, 2011
  20. ^ General Union Website Breaking News - Gaba loses Central Labor Commission appeal Retrieved October 31, 2010
  21. ^ JALT website Gaba Gaba Hey: Employment Relations At Gaba Corp Nothing to Sing About Retrieved on March 2, 2011
  22. ^ General Union website Gaba appeal rejected, sues government Retrieved on March 3, 2011
  23. ^ General Union website Gaba Non-Renews Branch Chair Retrieved on October 25 2011
  24. ^ General Union website GABA Does About Face: Rehires Branch Chair, Drops Lawsuits Retrieved February 29 2012
  25. ^ General Union website More reason to join than ever April 25 2012
  26. ^ General Union website Gaba members seek Unemployment Insurance Retrieved on March 3, 2011
  27. ^ General Union website Unemployment Insurance Update Retrieved on July 3, 2011
  28. ^ ELT News General Union files complaint against Gaba Retrieved on March 2, 2011
  29. ^ Gaba 2010 Stock Exchange report Retrieved on November 10, 2010
  30. ^ General Union website General Union "counter-sues" Gaba for 58 million yen Updated on July 12, 2011
  31. ^ Scott, Simon, "Gaba 'contractor' status under fire from staff, courts", Japan Times, 20 December 2011, p. 13.
  32. ^ General Union website GABA Does About Face: Rehires Branch Chair, Drops Lawsuits Retrieved February 29 2012
  33. ^ General Union website More reason to join than ever April 25 2012
  34. ^ General Union website General Union "counter-sues" Gaba for 58 million yen Updated on July 12, 2011
  35. ^ General Union website More reason to join than ever April 25 2012
  36. ^ General Union page Gaba branch organizing committee Retrieved on November 6 2011
  37. ^ General Union website Gaba Non-Renews Branch Chair Retrieved on November 6 2011
  38. ^ General Union website GABA Does About Face: Rehires Branch Chair, Drops Lawsuits Retrieved February 29 2012
  39. ^ General Union website GU - More Reason To Join Than Ever Retrieved May 15 2012
  40. ^ General Union website GABA Does About Face: Rehires Branch Chair, Drops Lawsuits Retrieved February 29 2012
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