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Bread & Roses: Needless Death of a Sri Lankan Detainee
SNA (Tokyo) — “Japan is safer than other countries; the Japanese are kind; the streets are clean; and it’s easy to live here.” I hear foreigners say these things. But I also hear it from Japanese who have never lived abroad. The mainstream media’s Nippon Sugoi! campaign is working, perhaps, but it’s not far off from…
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Bread & Roses: Osaka Court Overturns Welfare Cut
SNA (Tokyo) — A Japanese court overturned a welfare reduction for the first time ever on February 22, 2021. The Osaka District Court ruled against the government’s 2013 public assistance reduction of ¥67 billion (US$632 million), marking the first court win for the Inochi no Toride litigation campaign, involving more than 1,000 plaintiffs in 29 prefectures around…
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ALC Press Workers Unionize
Employees of publisher and language training company ALC Press Inc. unionized last June after management pressured them to switch to part-time zero-hour contracts with no social benefits. Since May 2020, ALC placed employees on required furlough on certain days each month, paying them reduced wages as per Article 26 of the Labor Standards Act. Although…
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Shane Workers Union’s recent strikes
You might have thought the Shane Workers Union (SWU) had gone quiet, or weren’t doing much over the lockdown, but the members were all quite active. Meetings went from a monthly thing to an almost weekly activity, and the fire in the members hearts was burning and growing. The members were angry at Shane’s lack…
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Shane Corporation and Covid 19
In March, April and May 2020, Shane Corp. took the decision to close schools in response to the novel coronavirus and the declaration of a state of emergency in Japan. Under Japanese law and in line with social norms, companies across the country have been furloughing their employees and paying an allowance (kyugyou teate), or…
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Bread & Roses: Workers of the World! Unite and Stay Home!
SNA (Tokyo) — May Day came into this world on May 1, 1886, with a general strike to win “eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, and eight hours for what you will.” Three days later, workers gathered in Haymarket Square, Chicago, and clashed with cops sent in to shut them down. At least…
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Tozen Union Virtual May Day 東ゼン労組電脳メーデー
悪夢のようなコロナ禍を背景に、不要不急とされている労働者の多くは、自らの身を危険にさらして職場に出勤するか、収入減または収入ゼロを覚悟して自宅待機をするという無情な選択肢を迫られています。労働組合として、私たちは、コロナウィルスの拡大阻止と労働者の命と生活を共に守るための措置を、断固要求しなければなりません。 私たちは、2020年５月１日（金）午後２時より、世界初の「電脳メーデー」（オンラインによるメーデー）を開催します。東ゼン労組のメーデーのテーマは「コロナの収束」と「所得保障」という二本の柱からなります。生活費が底をつき、家賃やローン等を支払えない労働者に対して、所得保障のうえで自宅待機を徹底することが絶対に必要です。 「オンラインによるメーデー」っていったいナニ？と思うでしょう。社前で行われる抗議行動なら、東ゼン労組の幟、腕章、要求事項が記載された配布ビラなどがあり、申入れ、路上演説後シュプレヒコールで締めるのが通常のスタイルです。東ゼン労組の「電脳メーデー」は、街に出て声を上げる代わりに、オンラインツール「Zoom」によって、街頭での行動と全く同じ目的を果たすものです。 東ゼン労組の電脳メーデーは、国と使用者に、一人残らず全ての労働者の命を守ることを要求します。不要不急の業界の労働者に対しては、在宅勤務、自宅待機に全額の賃金を、そして、必要不可欠な緊迫した現場で、私たち社会の安全のために今も働いている労働者たちに対しては、「危険手当」の上乗せ支給を求めます。 今こそ、万国の労働者よ、電脳空間で団結しよう!! Against the backdrop of this nightmarish pandemic, many workers in nonessential industries face an awful dilemma – commute to work, and risk their own and the public health, or stay at home with no or far less income. As a union, we must call for the resolution of both crises,…
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Tozen Union ALTs win WFH in Sagamihara
[2020.4.12] Assistant language teachers (ALTs) in Sagamihara City will work from home beginning Monday 13th April rather than Tuesday 14th, dispatcher Interac KK told Tozen Union. The ALT dispatch giant had planned to send Tozen members to school this week, even though the city had already suspended classes. The union demanded its members work from home…
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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…