Tag - unions

 
 

UNIONS

JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
May 16, 2015
Weighing the human cost of industrialization
In the year the West knows as 604 A.D., one of Japan's most revered statesmen, Shotoku Taishi, issued a "constitution," the first of whose 17 articles states, "Harmony is to be valued."
EDITORIALS
May 10, 2015
Much-needed probe into overwork
Analyzing the causes and impact of overwork is a long-overdue step, but much more needs to be done.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Apr 26, 2015
'Zero Overtime Bill' is the thin end of the wedge for workers' rights
Although you may feel this amendment to the Labor Standards Law has nothing to do with you, the net will be cast wider and before you know it we will all be caught up in it.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 10, 2015
'Red purge' during MacArthur era hurt unions now pushing on wages
As annual wage talks climax this month, one of the obstacles to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's campaign for outsize pay raises has its roots in the 1940s: a stunted union movement.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Feb 25, 2015
Under Japanese law, breaks are sacred and standby counts as work
If your employer is keeping you waiting long hours on standby without paying you and calling it 'break time,' they are breaking the law.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 10, 2015
U.S. West Coast port operations resume with more labor talks scheduled
U.S. West Coast port operations resumed in full on Monday after shipping companies suspended loading and unloading of freighters for the weekend, citing chronic cargo backups the shippers and dockworkers have blamed on each other during months of labor tensions.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 11, 2015
Cameron's Conservatives vow tough new U.K. strike laws
British Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party says it will introduce tough strike laws for some public service workers if it wins the general election in May, prompting anger from unions that called the proposals an affront to democracy.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2014
Exploited working students starting to fight 'burakku arubaito' system
The 22-year-old university student was in his fifth day working part time at a Sukiya beef bowl outlet in Tokyo when his boss suddenly told him to run the shop from midnight to 9 a.m. all by himself.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 4, 2014
Millions may rally for higher pay in Indonesia
Indonesia's capital girded for a potential turnout of millions of protesters asking for a bigger increase in minimum wages in the world's fourth-most-populous nation, a test of President Joko Widodo's pro-business image.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 26, 2014
Court rejects Osaka mayor's bid to ban unions from using school buildings
The Osaka District Court ruled Wednesday that a city ordinance banning labor unions from using public facilities such as school buildings for meetings was illegal and unconstitutional, ordering the city to pay a union around ¥417,000 in compensation.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Sep 28, 2014
Eikaiwa, deal with sexual harassment of teachers before it's too late
If English schools in Japan do not take firm steps to protect teachers, it may only be a matter of time before another Lindsay Hawker is murdered — this time on their watch.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Sep 24, 2014
Job insecurity among Japan's university teachers is a recipe for further decline
Increasing the number of academic working poor hired as part-time teachers flies in the face of the education ministry's call to build universities that 'can compete on the world stage.'
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Sep 10, 2014
Five reasons why agricultural reform will be a tough slog
Today's column, in list form, tackles a subject that defies a more conventional presentation: Japanese agricultural regulation.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone. 
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan