Interac Turns a Corner in Negotiations With Tozen Union


**Interac Turns a Corner in Negotiations With Tozen Union**

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**東ゼン労組、インタラックとの交渉で一歩前進**

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To recap: real wages for teachers at Interac, Japan’s largest dispatch company for English teachers, have been going down for more than fifteen years. In recent years it has reached the point where employees are struggling to afford basic necessities. In 2019, after two previous tussles with Interac, employees at Tozen Union called them back to the negotiating table.

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日本最大の英語教師派遣会社である株式会社リンク・インタラックの教師の実質賃金は、15年以上前から下がり続けている。近年においては、従業員は基本的な生活必需品を購入するのに苦労するまでに至っている。過去に2度インタラックと揉めた後、2019年に東ゼン労組の組合員は再び団体交渉を開始した。

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Things seemed to go well at first, but Interac consistently refused a basic wage increase. In the end, we were forced to go on strike. In retaliation, Interac refused to sign agreements that were all but settled and began harassing our members, and we have had to sue them at Tokyo Labor Commission.

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当初、交渉はスムーズに進んでいるように見えたが、インタラックは基本給の引き上げを一貫して拒否した。結局、東ゼン組合員はストライキに踏み切らざるを得なかった。インタラックは、その報復として、決着した全ての協定への署名を拒否し、組合員に嫌がらせをするようになったため、東ゼンは東京労働委員会に提訴することを決断した。

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Now, after three years of striking and more than four years of negotiations, Interac have finally started moving towards a settlement.

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そして現在、3年間のストライキと4年以上の団体交渉の末、インタラックはようやく和解に向けて動き始めた。

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So far, we have had six hearings at the Labor Commission. Our original claim was for company financial data. Interac said they couldn’t afford to raise our pay, and we asked them to prove it—this is standard practice in Japan. They shared financial data once in 2019, for one of their subsidiaries, which showed they were doing exceptionally well financially—yet they still refused to raise our pay. Because of this and many other issues, we entered dispute and began striking.

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これまで、労働委員会で6回のヒアリングを受けている。我々の当初の請求は、会社の財務データ開示であった。インタラックは「給料を上げる余裕がない」と主張し、我々は「それを証明しろ」と要求した(日本では、給与アップを会社が拒んだ場合、会社は財務状況を組合員に開示しなければならない)。実際、2019年に一度、インタラックは子会社の財務データを共有している。そのデータでは財務的に非常に好調であったにもかかわらず、私たちの賃上げを拒否した。

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Interac then refused any further financial disclosures, claiming it would violate Tokyo Stock Exchange’s rules against insider trading. We couldn’t find any relevant clauses in the regulations, so we asked management to point them out—they could not. So, we went to the Labor Commission and sued them for bad faith negotiation: by law, if they refuse to meet a union demand, they have to give a good reason why. Disclosing financial data to unions is common in these situations.

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その後、インタラックは、東京証券取引所のインサイダー取引禁止規定に抵触すると主張して、これ以上の財務情報の開示を拒否し続けた。私たちは、インサイダー取引禁止規制の中に該当する条項を見つけることができなかったので、経営陣にどの条項に触れるのか示すよう求めたが、彼らは無言を貫いた。法律では、労働組合の要求を拒否する場合、正当な理由を述べなければならないことになっている。

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While our case is being heard, the commissioners have made it clear that they expect us to continue to attempt to settle our issues. Interac was instructed to negotiate specifically over financial disclosures. However, when we got back around the table they refused, saying only, “We’ll discuss it at the Labor Commission.”

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東京労働委員会は、私たちの訴訟が審理されている間においても、インタラックと労組が引き続き問題の解決を試みる交渉をすることを期待する明言している。インタラックは、特に財務情報開示について交渉するよう指示を受けたにも関わらず、交渉の場になると「労働委員会で話し合う 」と言い、拒否し続けた。

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We were therefore forced to add this to our case. We believe this is a clear instance of Interac breaking trade union law.

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そのため、労組はこの件を追加請求することにした。私たちは、これはインタラックが労働組合法を破った明らかな例であると信じている。

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By this point, Interac had begun flagrantly violating our rights left and right, harassing us at work and at home, even finding a way to fire one of our members. In each instance, we filed an additional claim with the Commission.

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この時点で、インタラックは私たちの権利を徹底的に侵害し始め、職場や家庭で私たちに嫌がらせをし、メンバーの一人を解雇する方法さえ見つけていた。そのたびに、私たちは委員会に追加請求を行なった。

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And then something interesting happened. After months of striking and suing, this April 12th Interac offered to disclose the finances of their subsidiaries that employ our members. In return, they asked us to withdraw our original claim for financial disclosure and the new claim for refusal to negotiate.

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そして、興味深いことが起こった。数ヶ月にわたるストライキと訴訟の後、この4月12日にインタラックは、私たち組合員を雇用している子会社の財務を開示することを申し出たのである。その見返りとして、財務情報開示を求める当初の請求と、財務内容開示の交渉を拒否したことに対する新たな請求を取り下げるよう求めてきた。

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We told Interac that we would consider their proposal, but that we’re hoping to settle the entire case, not just parts of it. We very much want to settle everything with Interac. Our next hearing will be on June 13th, 2023. Check back then to see how it went!

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私たちはインタラックに、彼らの提案を検討するが、部分的な解決ではなく、全案件の解決を望んでいると伝えた。私たちは、インタラックとすべてを解決したいと強く願っている。次回のヒアリングは、2023年6月13日である。どのような結果になったかは、その時にまたご確認いただきたい。

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Watch the video version of this article: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgwfZPu-WjU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgwfZPu-WjU)

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Read the article on our website: [https://interac.tozenunion.org/interac-turns-a-corner-in-negotiations-with-tozen-union/](https://interac.tozenunion.org/interac-turns-a-corner-in-negotiations-with-tozen-union/)

18 comments
  1. Good luck

    Edit – I genuinely mean that not sarcastically or anything. Sounds like a lot of good work is being put in to improve the industry 👍🏼

  2. Bearing in mind that I know nothing about Interac.

    I don’t understand the part about them being unwilling to disclose their financial data, if they’re a publicly listed company, would all of their financials not be made publicly available in their annual reports at the very least. That would detail revenue, operational costs, and profit.

    The nonsense about “insider trading” is already covered by law.

    However, there are also mentions of “subsidiaries”, are they concealing things from their shareholders?

  3. I’m baffled by two things.

    One is, why does Tozen believe they have a right to a company’s private data? If something is listed publicly, of course that information is available to all. But if I worked for Amazon, for example, I can’t just walk into Jeff Bezos’ office and demand to see the numbers to determine if he can pay me more.

    Second, why does Tozen feel it speaks for Interac employees? I’m an Interac employee, I have no idea who these people are and certainly have not given them any consent to speak for me. Some employees of Tozen may well be Interac employees, current or past, but unless there’s a company-wide vote with a clear majority, how can they claim the right to speak for the employees?

  4. Weird cult, bros.
    Honestly if you put the effort into opening your own company instead you’d be making twice your salary by now. You don’t like the salary? Get a new fucking job.

  5. I think it’s pretty clear they have no real intention of negotiating. They’re trying to show the labor commission “look, we’re TRYING” while actually not doing anything. It’s a delay tactic. All I can say is, good luck to you and I do hope you eventually get some concessions.

  6. Absolute trash company. They get paid a lot by the BOE for each teacher placed and yet pay their teachers a pittance. The BOE needs to realize what they are doing and stop giving them the contract. Start hiring teachers directly for gods sake!

  7. Solidarity from the GU. I hope they come back to the table so you can sort this out.

  8. Don’t give up! I really hope this can set a precedent and make things better for future workers

  9. I hope this has a happy ending for the ALTs. I interviewed for Interac back in the states and the dude that ran the interview literally said we are nothing more than products for Interact to sell equating us to the likes of toilet paper at the store. 😅

  10. Good, got burned by them a few years ago and then got burned by the contracting company for Epic Games last year (even though that’s unrelated).

    Anything I can do to contribute?

  11. Go to the meeting and don’t budge. Those guys went apeshit on me for knowing social insurance laws from the presentation. I never got hired by them because the interview lady was scared of me.

  12. Good luck. I have worked for not interac and owls and they are both shit. I can barely afford to pay rent and utilities and yet I’m working 40 hours a week. They all have an excuse for no pay raises but want you to go above and beyond at work. If I’m paid properly I’ll work harder pretty sure that’s true at any job

  13. Why would they increase wages? It’s a dead-end job and there is no lack of people waiting to fill the shoes of those who quit.

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