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Tozen Berlitz Teachers Protest in Yurakucho 東ゼン労組ベルリッツ講師が有楽町で抗議行動
英語と日本語 On November 3, 2021, Berlitz teachers belonging to Tozen Union’s Begunto local, gathered in front of Berlitz Japan’s Yurakucho Language Center to demand the school reinstate wrongly terminated member Matt. They passed out over 100 leaflets to students and passersby, informing them of the union’s demand. The corona pandemic has hurt Berlitz’ earnings, leading…
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置いてけぼりの夏の真ん中 ー2021盛夏、コロナとオリンピックの渦のなかでー Midsummer 2021 – Left to be sucked into the corona-Olympic vortex
奥貫妃文の詩。 A poem by Hifumi Okunuki. (English is below the Japanese.) いまは、いったいいつなんだろう。 ここは、いったいどこなんだろう。 東京都新宿区、奥神楽坂の我が家から歩いて3分。 中国人のジャンさんが営む中華料理レストランがあった。 私と夫は頻繁に通っては、裏メニュー「黒酢きゅうり」を頼んでいた。 2021年8月の現在、その店は、もうない。 夜遅くまで客足が絶えず、楽し気な声で満ちていた店は、真っ暗なまま。 がらんどうになった店の入口は、落ち葉の吹き溜まりになっている。 壁には「テナント募集」の張り紙。それもすっかり色褪せ、 今にもはがれそうにカサカサ、カサカサ、と音を立てている。 新しい賃借人が入るのは、いつのことになるだろうか。
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Tozen ALTs Enter Dispute with Interac 東ゼン労組のALT支部が、インタラックと労働紛争に突
On May 11, 2021, Tozen Union entered into dispute with Interac. Since our first collective bargaining (CB) in October 2019, Tozen Union and Interac have taken several important steps toward working out a deal. But after twenty-six CB sessions, workplace safety and wage issues remain. Our campaign to improve working conditions at Interac is important…
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Shame on Shane – Forty-one Shane workers strike for full corona pay
Few corporations paid full kyugyo te-ate furlough allowance during the emergency shutdown. Shane Eikaiwa (Shane Corp.), however, paid its teachers the full allowance during April and May. At first glance, the company apparently showed respect to its workers, a company anybody would be proud to work at. But this pretty picture has turned ugly, with…
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Bread & Roses: Worker Rights in the Age of Coronavirus
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…