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Standing up to the country’s flagship carrier
Credibility of justice system in spotlight as highest court to make ruling on JAL layoffs BY HIFUMI OKUNUKI Kuala Lumpur, 1977. The rain came down in torrents. The control tower instructed pilots to circle the airport pending better weather. The pilots had the option to divert to a nearby airport where things were quieter. Japan Airlines…
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職場には、民主的な従業員代表が必要だ！
先週、ある人から、以下のような相談を受けた。仮にＡさんとしておこう。 「私はいま、東京に本社がある○○というコンサルティング会社で働いていて、もうすぐ３年になります。実は昨日、突然人事部から全社員にメールが来て、『〇〇社の従業員代表について信任投票を行います。従業員代表は、就業規則変更などの際に、従業員を代表して会社に意見を伝えていただくことになります。このたび〇〇社の従業員代表として、△△さんが推薦され、ご本人からもその候補者になる旨の申し出をいただきました。
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A democratically elected rep is every worker’s legal right
Last week Mr. A came to me for a labor consultation. “I have worked for Company A for nearly three years,” he said, “and recently I received an email from human resources announcing an election for workers’ rep (jūgyōin daihyō). The email said that the rep’s job would be to communicate the opinion of the…
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Japanese firms have much to lose in battles over bogus outsourcing
What is a gyōmu itaku contract? It is basically an outsourcing contract: A company decides it cannot handle a certain job itself, so it outsources the work to another company — or an individual. Individuals on gyōmu itaku contracts are not considered rōdōsha (employees/workers) in the legal sense, and are thus not protected by the…
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Japan moves to expand controversial foreign worker scheme
(Reuters) – Japan is considering expanding a controversial program that now offers workers from China and elsewhere permits to work for up to three years, as the world’s fastest-aging nation scrambles to plug gaps in a rapidly shrinking workforce. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday submitted a proposal to let workers to…
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Holding on to resignation letters may be common but it’s neither right nor valid
New NHK President Katsuto Momii made headlines around the world with his claim that “comfort women” have been a common feature of conflicts involving “every country.” Using sex slaves in wartime, he said, was only wrong according to “today’s morality.” Causing great concern to press-freedom advocates, he also insisted that “when the government says ‘right,’…
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Tozen VS ICC
Tokyo General Union (Tozen) protests the firing of member Sulejman Brkic in front of the language school ICC. He worked there for 22 years and was fired for asking for his legally allotted paid holidays. Trailer: Full Version:
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Restore the shuttered-up New Year’s of yore
BY HIFUMI OKUNUKI First of all, I would like to wish a happy new year to all the readers of Labor Pains. While labor news has generally been a gloomy topic of late, it is my hope that this year will bring brighter things for me to write about. As I draft this first column…
