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Hirosaki Gakuin University in the Matter of Taishokukin
Todd Jay leonard
In April of 1992, I was recruited by and began working for Hirosaki Gakuin College (later "University") as a full-time "Associate Professor" ("jokyouju," later changed to "junkyouju" when all universities changed the title at the direction of Monkasho). I was initially hired on a two-year contract, but this was changed to three years after the third contract renewal.
In addition, in the subsequent 3-year contract renewals, it was explicitly worded in the contract that "Hirosaki Gakuin University agrees to employ Mr. Todd Jay Leonard as an Associate Professor of English on a continual basis." This phrase, "on a continual basis," is important in that although I was hired on a contract, the position gradually transitioned into that of a permanent position because I was employed there for 18-years. The contract was renewed with no gaps in days between contracts, and multiple times.
In section (8) of the contract, it further stated that "The EMPLOYEE shall assume his duties from the 1st of April 2007, until the 31st of March 2010, for a period of (3) years, which is renewable at the time of completion." Again, the phrase "is renewable at the time of completion," demonstrates the permanency of my position within the university. It reiterates the fact that I was considered to be a "sennin" employee in their eyes because I not only was given committee responsibilities equal to that of other Japanese faculty (i.e. multiple committee assignments including chairing the International Exchange Committee and Entrance Exam Committees), I also attended the "kyoujukai," served as advisor to 3rd and 4th year seminar students (in both the regular seminar classes and thesis/report seminar classes) which is traditionally a two-year course, and thus fulfilled my duties and responsibilities as though I were a "sennin" professor.
These types of responsibilities are not normally given to merely a contract teacher because the contract would end in the middle of performing such duties, and in the case of advising students as they progressed from third to fourth year status in their studies, this further illustrates the fact that I was not considered solely a contract teacher because I was directly overseeing and in charge of students' who needed consistency and continuity in their studies in order to graduate. For all practical purposes, I was treated as a full-time, tenured faculty member with the exception that I was given a contract (which was explained to me as a mere formality because the position in which I was initially hired had always been a contract position dating back some 125 years to the early days when the school was a Methodist missionary-based institution).
When I questioned the fact that I was in essence a "sennin" teacher, yet still required to make a contract, I was told that it was a formality and that I was indeed a "keiyaku sennin" (which does not make logical sense except that when it was convenient for Hirogaku, I was a "keiyaku" teacher and when it was not to Hirogaku's advantage, I was expected to be "sennin").
In section (7) of the contract, it explicitly stated that "cand the EMPLOYEE's other duties follow rules of employment for all its employees." This suggests that I am indeed to follow the rules and regulations for all its employees, including that of "sennin" employees, which means that I should expect and am entitled to receive the amount of "taishokukin" that is due to me according to the university's rules and regulations. In fact, there is no specific mention of contract teachers being treated differently (thus not receiving "taishokukin") from other faculty or employees in any of the official rules of employment drawn up by the "college" (formerly, and now it is a university). Conventional wisdom and practice hence means that I should expect and am entitled to receive "taishokukin." Nowhere in any of the rules and regulations does it exclude or define contract teachers differently from receiving "taishokukin."
In April 2009, Hirosaki Gakuin University deducted 10% from the salary of all its employees as a cost-saving measure. Even though my contract specifically stated unequivocally my yearly salary, my monthly salary, and my bonuses, I had this 10% deducted from my monthly salary and bonuses because I was considered to be a full-time faculty member. This decision to deduct my salary by 10% by Hirosaki Gakuin effectively negated the legally binding contract we had entered into, further proving that they considered me to be a full-time, "sennin" faculty member to be treated as all tenured faculty and staff at the university. In so doing, Hirosaki Gakuin University is thus required to treat me as a full-time faculty member, equal to receiving "taishokukin" as all employees do.
When I gave my notice to the university at the end of my last contract to accept a tenured faculty position at a national ("kokuritsu hojin") institution, I fully expected to be given-without question-the "taishokukin" which I am legally entitled to receive. The university informed me that because I was a contracted foreigner, I was not entitled to receive my "taishokukin."
Having been a union member of EWA for a number of years, together, we are fighting this unfair treatment and will take it to civil court if need be. As an interesting side note, Hirosaki Gakuin University has realized its mistake and has opted to include "taishokukin" in the contract of the replacement for my previous position there, further proving that it acted unjustly, unfairly, and must remit to me the entire amount of "taishokukin" that I am owed after 18-years of faithful service to the institution.
KATE Has Won the Increase in Salary
Robert Trotter, Chairman Kobe KATE Branch of EWA
This March the Kobe KATE branch of the EWA received the increase in salary that we have been asking for, recognizing our true value to the city of Kobe. After many many years of no salary increases the EWA decided on a new approach and the three branches of Amagasaki, Ashiya, and Kobe got together with Neo Yamashita and began acting together in our negotiations with our respective cities. I believe that the support of the other two branches has had a significant role in finally achieving our goals here in Kobe and I would like to thank them for their support.
A number of years ago we were able to establish that we were truly being undervalued and underpaid and after negotiations, the Kobe Board of Education (BOE) agreed. A figure was negotiated that would bring us up to date. The Kobe BOE submitted the proposal to the City of Kobe but it was initially denied due to budget difficulties. Further negotiations in subsequent years resulted in a salary increase of half the amount initially sought. And as a result of further negotiations last year, we received another increase in salary to take us up to and beyond the initially negotiated salary increase.
We are all very pleased with the result. I would also like to thank the Kobe Board of Education who have been understanding and non-confrontational. We have worked hard for the city of Kobe as teachers and they worked with us rather than against us to solve the issues at hand. I hope to continue with good relations with the Kobe BOE and the city of Kobe. Cooperation, understanding and the support of the other union branches has helped us reach our goals. Good luck in reaching yours.
An Update to the First Collective Bargaining Meeting with Kindai
Lee Chang Tye, Secretary of the Kindai EWA Branch
Around early August 2010 the Kindai representatives replied to our collective bargaining request made in the July 2010 negotiation concerning class cancellations. To reiterate, we asked for classes and salary to NOT be cancelled in the event of low, or no, or failing enrollment, and that we would offer English-related services instead. After promising to give the matter serious consideration - which could easily have been interpreted in most other contexts to mean "don't call us, we'll call youc.." the Kindai representatives had the good and generous sense to not only agree to our proposal, but also to agree to uphold the Labour Standards Law. This is my edited version of their reply from an English translation that was sent to the EWA head office -
1/ At the July 16th 2010 departmental meeting, Kindai asked the secretaries of each department to pay more careful attention when making future teaching schedules in order to minimize the possibility of class cancellations.
2/ In the case where a class would normally be cancelled, Kindai will try to provide the teacher with English-related jobs/services instead of cancelling the class.
3/ If the above-mentioned English-related jobs/services are not available, the class will be closed and Kindai will pay 60% of the teacher's salary for what would be the normal duration of that class.
4/ For those teachers whose classes were cancelled in the Spring semester of 2010 they will still be covered by the above-mentioned policy 3/. They will receive that payment in September.
This is very good news not only for our, or any, union members at Kindai, but also for part-time teachers as a whole. Negotiations were carried out in good faith with a win-win proposal in mind and it was received well by a concerned management culture. The outcome has been very positive.
First Collective Bargaining Negotiation: Kindai EWA Branch
Lee Chang Tye, Secretary of the Kindai EWA Branch
The first collective bargaining negotiation between the newly formed Kindai EWA branch and Kindai University was held on Tuesday evening July the 6th 2010 in the Honkan building. In attendance for the EWA branch were Neo Yamashita, two other senior members of the EWA and three branch members. Members in attendance for Kindai University included the vice-president & representatives from the administration, personnel and various teaching departments.
As we had already met the introductions were brief and the university representatives began by reading out the 2 proposals we had formally requested:
Issue one concerned class cancellations due to low/no enrolments for both credited and non-credited classes. In the case of non-credited classes, failing attendance is also a concern. We requested that in this event for our classes to remain open and that we would instead offer English-related services such as working at the E-Cube (an English speaking social/activity centre), or to provide English editing services for academics and other staff during class time.
This proposal came about because for some hijoukin staff teaching assigned elective classes there is a real risk of class cancellation at the beginning of both semesters. And for those of us assigned non-credited English conversation classes this risk hangs over us if the attendance of the class falls to zero for three consecutive weeks. Up till now very few native-English hijoukin ever lost classes due to the conscientious efforts of some sympathetic full-timers. However, this year being the first where each department has its own autonomous English program, one of our members lost two of his elective classes. For a number of years we have felt that these elective classes have been scheduled in unfair competition with compulsory or other important classes but have accepted the situation gracefully as no one - up till now - has had a class, let alone two, cancelled.
At the negotiation the university representatives read out the conditions stipulated on our contract that in the event of a class closing we would get paid our full salary for two months. They then reported that they had made some enquiries consistent with our proposal to the various departments concerned and that they had no need for our offered services. These English-related services are already taken care of through various offices on campus and that working at the E-Cube would not be favourable because of the difference in pay we receive compared to the E-Cube's NOVA-style despatch staff's salary.
They also researched the class cancellation policies and practices of 19 big universities, labour standards law, and gathered some statistics on how many hijoukin classes were closed compared to the total number of hijoukin teaching at Kindai. It was found that out of 900 hijoukin teaching at Kindai only 6 of them lost classes. And out of the 19 large universities most paid out 2-3 months of the teacher's salary in the advent of class cancellation. In fact only one university actually followed labour standards law and continued to pay 60% of the teacher's salary for the remainder of the year. Even though our original proposal was turned down their response was encouraging and unexpected. They said that they would seriously consider looking into following the labour standards law and compensate the teacher with 60% of his/her salary and it was agreed that they would give us a definite answer in spring. In addition they would start to make some inquiries to the relevant head of department about our union member's cancelled classes.
The second issue raised at the meeting concerned access to workplace health insurance for the hijoukin staff. Over the previous years several teachers seriously injured themselves whilst on campus, in some cases, ambulances were required and medical costs were significant. This raised questions about what workplace health cover we were legally entitled to and what should be done in such emergencies. On several occasions such questions were asked of middle management who responded negatively by suppressing such concerns instead of making further inquires to the administration. This left us confused and feeling neglected. Through inquiries made by the union, we are now aware that every part-timer is covered by the Ryosai Hoken, a compulsory and inexpensive health insurance scheme that covers all part-time staff. To apply for such cover the injury should be reported to Jinjika who then take down the details and send the report to the labour standards inspection office for assessment. If passed the injured party is then eligible for compensation for their medical expenses. At the negotiation the Kindai representatives constructively responded by stating their intention to include this application form in future official documentation that is given to us at the beginning of each year. In addition we asked if the title of the application form could be prefaced in English to which they agreed. Following a few more informal exchanges between native English speakers on both sides clarifying the circumstances which surrounded our members' cancelled classes, the meeting ended after 40 minutes. To summarize, the negotiation was conducted in a professional, open, honest and respectful manner, "gentlemanly" as one of our senior EWA members called it. The relationship between the union branch and management continues to be a healthy working one characterised by open lines of communication. And, members of both sides have had their awareness raised as to what constitutes correct labour standards practice.
