When we think of workers striking, we usually think of ‘big’ issues like pay. But while pay can certainly be motivator, the reason most of strikes happen is because workers want justice. We see that our employers are only concerned about their bottom line. As workers, we want respect and dignity. And we want respect and dignity for our workmates. To see this in action, look no further than the strike being organised by British Council teachers in Japan. It’s happening because the BC is trying to force one of the teachers to retire. She wants to keep working and her workmates have got her back. This is their inspiring story.
Tell us about the dispute? Why is your union taking action?
In the UK, where the British Council is based, the Equality Act has made it illegal for a company to force someone to retire because of their age.
British Council global EDI, or “Equality, Diversity and Inclusion” policy, says that “even if the laws of countries do not specifically address unjustified age discrimination, (we) should still avoid this. (We) should not therefore employ restrictive age criteria … unless there are strong reasons for doing so which can justify their use.”
We have repeatedly asked what justification there might be for forcing someone to retire, but the only response has been that maybe the rule is there due to historic reasons in Japan from the 1950’s and 1960’s. In fact, it is blatantly unequal, discriminatory and exclusive if the only reason for forcing their staff out is age, as employment opportunities at 65 are still thin on the ground, and without a job they will be excluded from all sorts of social and government benefits. And of course the UK pension age is currently 66, so UK staff can’t even collect that pension yet.
Japan lags behind the UK in scrapping ageism, but even so, the Japanese Government is actively encouraging companies to employ staff at least until they are 70. So it is clear – there is nothing to stop the British Council Japan from scrapping forced retirement, and every reason for them to walk their EDI talk.
What’s the state of negotiations up to this point? Has the BC responded to the notice of strike action?
The union has actually been negotiating on this for many years, but with no clear progress, and with the branch chair turning 65 in May, we are pressing for a collective agreement that will allow her to continue working to 70. What is needed is for someone at some level in the company to take a decision to comply with the British Council’s own global policy and agree to continue to employ our chair past her birthday. Striking has been born of the union’s concern at the lack of evidence of progress, despite the urgency of the issue.
What sort of actions are planned for strike days? Pickets? Rallies? Any solidarity actions planned?
Of course if and when we next strike, we will be picketing and leafleting the teaching centre, and telling our students and the public, as well as the British Council, why union members are willing to sacrifice our pay for the British Council to follow its own policy.
Have you all linked up with other unions or organisations in Japan in preparation with this strike?
We have had solidarity from other Nambu branches. We also spread the word at Nambu’s annual March in March for Migrant Workers on 5 March. Our sister union, the General Union (GU) in Osaka, has publicised our industrial action on their website. Also, GU members and a branch rep in the Kanto area came to Tokyo to show their support for our strike.
I understand the students are very supportive. How have you facilitated those links? Are there student organisations which you can link up with formally or has it been more based on direct relationships between teachers and students?
Yes, this has been really heartening. Student support has been spontaneous, but entirely separate from the union. Many has expressed shock to learn the reality about teachers’ working conditions, especially as they have seen their tuition fees go up. Many older students are keenly aware of the forced retirement issue in Japan, as we don’t have the legal protections enjoyed in the UK, but they assumed that the British Council, being a UK based organisation, would follow UK equalities laws.
A group of students have been collecting signatures among their classmates over several weeks, and we understand they are going to present a petition to the British Council.
If you could sit down with BC management and really get them to understand one thing, what would it be?
We are dismayed to be discover that the British Council’s supposed values of “Equality, Diversity and Inclusion” ring hollow when we find that these are simply ignored when the local climate allows our employer to get away with ageist, discriminatory practices. And we would say, a company that ignores its your own policies whenever it suits will damage its reputation, and create a demoralised and disengaged staff.
What’s the one thing you’d like English teachers around the world to understand about this dispute?
We teachers have all worked hard to become qualified and experienced because we like to teach, and we know from our students that it is the teachers that have earned the British Council its reputation.
However, we have seen our working conditions continually degraded and casualised over decades now, and many of us are finding we can no longer afford to work for the British Council.
It is only by banding together that we can work for a fairer deal for all of us, whether we have indefinite or fixed term contracts, gig contracts, or even outsourced to other companies. It has never been truer to say United we stand, divided we fall.
How long have the BC teachers in Japan been represented by Tokyo Nambu? Can you tell us about the history of the unionisation campaign?
Teachers first joined Tokyo Nambu and the General Union back in 2005. Over the past few months, we have seen a steady growth in the number of staff joining the union.
There have been many issues over the years, ranging from contract renewal, increasingly precarious contracts to hours. As far as pay goes, we have had no pay rise in over 20 years; in fact, pay was radically cut in 2010-2012, and then new, worse contracts have been introduced with hours and pay progressively cut. These are also divisive, as people on different contracts feel discriminated against if denied the same holidays, or access to health and pension coverage that their workmates enjoy. Recently, the unilateral cutting of some staff bonuses, again in a way we find discriminatory and opaque, has caused a lot of indignation. The issues of bonuses and precarious hourly-paid contracts in particular have spurred the recent steady growth of the branch.
Anything else you’d like to add?
One of the most heartening things about this has been that members voted unanimously on industrial action to support our branch chair, and this has brought together different generations and people across contract types to act in support of their workmates. We really hope that in turn, this will help us to win a fairer deal on many other working conditions, particularly for those on the most precarious contracts.