Temps with help from union win overdue overtime

Japan Press Weekly

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Temps with help from union win overdue overtime
Akahata editorial (excerpts)

Three temp workers at the restaurant chain “Sukiya” in Sendai City, with the help of a trade union, has made the parent company Zensho pay them for their overtime work.

Zensho had refused to pay the overtime hours they worked by using sophistry to evade payment. However, the fast food chain giant at last agreed to pay the three workers 990,000 yen, the full amount they claimed for their overtime from September 2005 to October 2006, after they took the case to court with the help of the Tokyo Metropolitan Youth Union.

Before the conclusion of the trial at the Tokyo District Court scheduled for September 10, Zensho on August 27 agreed to the payment, confirming a victory for the workers.

The workers joined the union, which is open to any individual working at a company without an in-house trade union.

The company at first turned its back on collective bargaining so the union filed a claim to the Metropolitan Labor Relations Commission regarding the unfair labor practice of rejecting attempts for collective bargaining.

The company used stalling tactics which forced the three to bring the case to court in April 2008.

The company argued, “The union based on individual membership can not be recognized as a trade union. Part timers are not workers.”

The Metropolitan Labor Relations Commission in October 2009 rejected the company’s argument, and ordered it to start collective bargaining talks. The MLRC clearly stated that the union based on individual membership satisfies the legal requirements of a trade union, and that part-timers are under labor contracts with the company. Dissatisfied with this decision, the company called on the Central Labor Relations Commission for a retrial, but the CLRC on August 26 also rejected the company’s request. The court also did not support the company’s illogical argument that workers working for hourly wages are not workers but mere contractors with the company.

The claimants’ bench commented that the case can apply to anyone working. The victory of the part-time workers at the fast food shop chain shows that unity with other workers and unions can change the situation and influence large corporations.

-Akahata, September 6, 2010