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Wages not keeping up with higher consumer prices
Although her husband’s salary increased, a Tokyo woman said she has tightened her family’s purse strings. “Except for what my child absolutely needs, we have to be frugal in our spending,” the 37-year-old woman said. Japan’s real wage index was minus 2.8 percent in October compared with the same period in 2013, the 16th straight…
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Jack London’s “Definition of a Scab”
Attributed to Jack London: “After God had finished the rattlesnake, the toad, the vampire, He had some awful substance left with which He made a scab.
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Tozen Union Sues SIT over Union Busting
Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union (Tozen Union) sued Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT) Thursday in the Tokyo Labor Commission, claiming the university had committed unfair labor practices.
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Would-be NTV announcer’s fate hangs on issues of morality and fraud
BY HIFUMI OKUNUKI NOV 26, 2014 The prevalence of the employment custom of saiyō naitei (tentative job offers) may well be peculiar to Japan. As I touched upon in my March 27, 2012, column, university juniors and seniors skip class to attend work seminars, company orientations, internships and, finally, a series of tests and interviews…
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‘Maternity harassment’ verdict benefits women, men — and our humanity
Last Thursday’s Supreme Court verdict in the “maternity harassment” case brought by a physical therapist in Hiroshima was the first of its kind, overturning decades of business-friendly jurisprudence along with rulings from the district and high courts. As I mentioned in last year’s September Labor Pains (“Mata-hara: turning the clock back on women’s rights”), the…
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Tozen Continues to Grow
Founded in April 2010 with 7 locals, Tozen Union has recently reached 15 active local unions (plus two dormant ones). Our membership has also roughly doubled during the past four years, with growth accelerating over the past 15 months.
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芝浦工業大学、講師のストは、第２週に入る SIT Teacher Strike Enters Second Week
「私たちは、ストライキの第２週に入りました。学生たちからのご支援と御関心は、本当に心強いです。多くの学生から話しかけられたり、質問をされたり、ホームページを閲覧したり、諦めるなという励ましの言葉もいただきました。学生らのご支援さえあれば、失われそうな職を守るまで闘い続けられると思います。」 全国一般東京ゼネラルユニオン（略称 「東ゼン労組」） 芝浦工業大学教職員組合 執行委員長 アンソニー・ドーラン ”We have moved into our second week striking. The encouragement and interest of the students has been really uplifting. Many students have talked to us, asked us questions, visited our website, and told us not to give up. With the students’ support, we can keep this strike going until our jobs…
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芝浦工業大学の講師は労働紛争に入った! ～ Shibaura Institute of Technology Teachers on Strike!
２０１３年に芝浦工業大学（ＳＩＴ）の講師は全国一般東京ゼネラルユニオン（東ゼン労組）でＳＩＴ支部を結成した。講師の労働条件の改善を目指して、大学に対して団体交渉を開いた。しかし、大学は、突然、「来年度から英語カリキュラムを変更する。来年度は改めて応募せよ。」と一方的に告げました。これはつまり、すべての組合に加盟している講師がクビになることを意味します。 In 2013 Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT) teachers formed the SIT Local at Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union (Tozen Union). The union started collective bargaining with the university to improve working conditions for the staff. But then suddenly the university announced that they would “change the English curriculum” and that teachers could “reapply for…
