Tag - u-s-unions

 
 

U S UNIONS

Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 14, 2014
Suit over dismissal to tackle thorny issue of language teachers' employment status
At the heart of the Sulejman Brkic case is the issue of what, in legal terms, the nature of his employment status was while he worked for language school ICC: Was he an employee or a contractor?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Mar 26, 2014
Holding on to resignation letters may be common but it's neither right nor valid
NHK President Katsuto Momii's move to force board members to submit undated resignations for him to hold over them while he submits no such letter to them is tantamount to a declaration of dictatorship at the public broadcaster.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 12, 2014
Key firms agree to hike pay scales
Many major firms notified their labor unions Wednesday that they will raise pay scales to conclude this year's spring wage negotiations, responding to strong calls from the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to help end long-standing deflation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 4, 2014
Union cites 'big gap' with Toyota in wage negotiations
Toyota Motor Corp. and its workers' union are far apart over wages and bonuses, the labor group's chairman said Tuesday.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Feb 22, 2014
Return of shunto is hollow triumph for unions
Shunto is in full swing. Or so it should be. Or so they say. Shunto is the Japanese word for the annual spring round of wage negotiations conducted between big business and trade unions. This "spring offensive" used to feature large in the annual economic calendar. As the deflationary 1990s and beyond set in, this offensive became an offensive no more. Faced with the prospect of corporate bankruptcies and accompanying job losses, labor unions rapidly lost their teeth.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Feb 12, 2014
ANA caricature speaks volumes about Japan's outdated mind-set
My personal opinion is that the ad is a disappointing anachronism, and a reminder of the parochial outlook of large Japanese corporations. The ad appeals to the facile formula that 'foreigner = white = blonde and big-nosed = English-speaking = globalization.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 3, 2014
Workers stumble while 'Abenomics' soars
Japanese stocks and profits are soaring under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to revive the economy. Even shop prices are up, a key step after years of deflation kept pocketbooks shut tight. None of that matters to Shuzo Matsui.
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2014
Unions to demand robust pay rises
Unions are adopting robust demands for this spring's annual "shunto" wage talks, with those of Toyota Motor Corp. considering an average ¥2.3 million annual bonus and the electronics industry its first basic pay hike in five years.
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2014
Toyota union to demand pay hike
The federation of labor unions for Toyota Motor group firms decides to demand a pay-scale hike at upcoming spring wage talks for the first time since 2009.
BUSINESS
Jan 9, 2014
Automobile labor union confederation to demand basic wage hike
The Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers' Unions said Thursday it will request a basic wage hike at the annual labor-management wage talks this spring.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Jan 8, 2014
Restore the shuttered-up New Year's of yore
First of all, I would like to wish a happy new year to all the readers of Labor Pains. While labor news has generally been a gloomy topic of late, it is my hope that this year will bring brighter things for me to write about.
BUSINESS
Jan 8, 2014
Daihatsu union to seek pay-scale hike of over 1%
In a move that could affect this spring's labor-management wage talks, the Daihatsu Motor Co. group's labor union is considering demanding a pay-scale hike of at least 1 percent, sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 3, 2014
Only 17% of Japan's biggest firms plan to raise wages
Only 17 percent of major companies will raise wages in the business year that starts April 1, even though 71 percent expect the economy to expand in 2014, according to a Kyodo News survey.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Dec 11, 2013
The year in labor: the Top 5 pains of 2013
For Japan's workers, the last 12 months have been a mixed bag. The Top 5 Labor Pains of 2013 will focus on what really shook things up in terms of labor relations and employment law.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 7, 2013
Inequality threatens Mandela legacy
Nelson Mandela emerged from 27 years in apartheid jails in 1990 pledging to seize South Africa's mines and banks. Four years later, his government slashed spending and courted foreign investors, paving the way for the longest period of growth in the country's history.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2013
Utility, subcontractors accused of exploiting nuke worker
A union for temporary workers seeks redress from the Tokyo Labor Relations Commission, saying Tokyo Electric Power Co. and four other firms have refused to discuss exploitative treatment of one of its ranks.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Nov 13, 2013
Real 'labor cops' also deserve to get the star treatment
The show 'Dandarin' says a great deal about Japanese office politics and corporate practices that are long overdue some serious scrutiny.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Oct 7, 2013
Fukushima, suicide and nihongo fluency: readers' mails
A grab bag of readers' mail in response to recent Community articles.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Sep 23, 2013
Matahara: turning the clock back on women's rights
Both statutory and case law are crystal clear on the illegality of firings due to pregnancy. But the law is one thing; practice is quite another.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Aug 19, 2013
Union, business concerns put limits on freedom of speech
Hot on the heels of their romp to victory in the race for control of the House of Councilors, the Liberal Democratic Party is chomping at the bit to overhaul the Constitution, which has not been amended since it was signed into law in 1946. The ruling party proposes gutting Article 9, which forever bans war, and laying the legal groundwork for an official national military.

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces