Hi all, Corrector here.
A recent blog post from Japanese activist Arudou Debito brought to light from recent events with NOVA and other problems. The full article link is listed below…
…I encourage everyone in Japan who is NJ to join a union. I have. Lose the allergy and the visions of George Meany and Jimmy Hoffa, and realize it’s the only recourse you have in Japan to get your labor rights enforced. All other measures, as I have written in the past, be they the courts, the ministries, even the laws as written themselves, will not help you in a labor dispute. Especially if you are a NJ. Labor rights have been severely weakened over the past two decades, and the sooner you understand that and take appropriate measures, the more secure life you’re going to have in Japan.
Arudou Debito in Sapporo
Debito says Unionize
http://www.debito.org/index.php/?p=610
One response to a comment found within the article that Debito posted from the Japan Today article… The quote is as follows:
Mark Jennings is a Berlitz Teacher and founding member of BEGUNTO who once held a series of executive posts in the union. After being actively involved with the group for much of his two decades in Japan, he had an epiphany: “I resigned because I finally figured out that NUGW is just a scam. I think unions in Japan are not serious and are not meant to be. NUGW keeps active just enough to maintain credibility.”
My response is that the union you join is as strong as YOU are. If your union isn’t working, then YOU must improve it. You must always FIRST suspect yourself as the weak link. Unions don’t exist to work for you, they exist to be directed, to help you improve your (and other’s) situations. I feel bad that Mr. Jennings came to this conclusion, and I don’t know what went on in the two decades he was in Japan, but I can say that while the strength of every union depends on its members, the only input you can really improve is your own. Join a union, and give it everything you can.
Solidarity.