Nagoya International School abounds in Trade Union Law violations
Trade Union Law of Japan bans the following: article 7(1) to dismiss or otherwise treat in a disadvantageous manner a worker by reason of the worker being a member of a labor union...
GENERAL UNION
There are very few employers that the union has sued for unfair labour practices (Trade Union Law violations) when compared to the number of employers we’ve dealt with over the past thirty years, but Nagoya International School has the unique position of being the only employer we have sued twice this century (actually in a span of three years).
We're not sure if pride, a lack of knowledge, or poor advice, or all three are getting in the way of getting along with the General Union, but we do know we keep suing them for unfair labour practices.
Trade Union Law article 7 forbids employers from partaking in certain acts.
(1): to dismiss or otherwise treat in a disadvantageous manner a worker by reason of the worker being a member of a labor union, having tried to join or organize a labor union, or having performed justifiable acts of a labor union; or to make it a condition of employment that the worker will not join or will withdraw from a labor union
In the case of our first union member at NIS, this is what we have charged them with. Our member, who was a popular teacher with positive evaluations, was a known union member whose contract was not renewed. Positive evaluations before union activity and contract non-renewal afterwards are quite an indication of unfair labour practices. Of course, the employer denies this, but in our testimony on 7 November, we made a very strong case of why we are certain that NIS did this. This case has been going on since 2019 and after Nagoya International School walked out of labour Commission mediation in 2021, we have pushed forward with the unfair labour practices trial.
...and just before the first testimony was to begin...NIS committed yet another unfair labour practice...
article 7(3): to control or interfere with the formation or management of a labor union by workers
In August, General Union members took part in two public leafleting activities in Nagoya to publicise this dispute along with our victories, as well as to urge people to join unions to protect and improve their working conditions.