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A Publication of the SUITE union
Vol. 1, No. 1 July 4, 1994
You have probably heard that a union has recently arisen here at Sophia. The SUITE Union is organized as the "Sophia University International Teachers and Employees Union" and is affiliated with the NUGW (National Union of General Workers) Although the Community College is the current focus of Union W activities, Union membership is not limited to the College.
In fact, SUITE already has members from several faculties outside of the Community College. All teachers and employees Sophia are invited to join.
Why did the Community College teachers organize SUITE?
The Community College teachers have been and remain dedicated to Sophia and will continue to do their best to serve the Sophia community. Their ability to perform this service is currently endangered: the administration is acting without regard to the best interests of the Community College students and teachers.
The fundamental way in which the administration is disregarding the rights of the teachers is by treating the teachers as "non-employees" (in a word: dispensable). This treatment started soon after the Community College became part of the new "Center for Extension Programs."
At the Community College there are two classifications of teachers: long-term contract teachers (LT) are those that have one-year employment contracts; short term teachers have term-by-term contracts and are considered to be "part-time" regardless of the number of classes taught.
Beginning in December 1993, the authorities - including Professor Sugawara and Mr. Tanaka from the Center For Extension Programs as well as Mr. Furukawa, Mr. Manzaki and Mr. Taira from the Personnel office - requested the long-term Community College teachers to accept a new contract. The offered "Entrustment Agreement" took away early all of the teacher's employment rights which were evident on their original "Employment Contract" or their status as employees.
The "Entrustment" would legally change the LT teachers from Employees to Independent Contractors (or consultants). It would thus enable the school to legally dismiss teachers at its whim, to fire teachers without cause and with impunity.
These LT teachers tried to negotiate on their own with the school as to the proposed changes. The administration simply said "take it or leave it."
The teachers understandably could not "take it." The proposed contract took away too many human and employment rights. Why should they sign away their rights? Furthermore, their dedication and their accumulated length of service to the immunity College meant that they could not "leave it" (the college and its students) either.
Consultation with a labor attorney revealed that the school was not in a legal position to force the teachers to give up their contracts. The employment contracts could only be unilaterally terminated under extreme conditions such as school bankruptcy serious breaches of employee discipline. Those cases were not in evidence.
In spite of being informed of the state of the law, the authorities maintained that the change to the Entrustment was not negotiable. To protect their rights, the teachers finally joined ale NUGW in March 1994. At that time the school withdrew the "Entrustment" and gave the teachers their normal employment contract.
Unfortunately, the campaign to take away the employee status of the LT teachers was not limited to the "Entrustment Agreement" and it did not end when the authorities agreed to enter into good faith negotiations.
Unable to take away the substance of the LT teachers contract rights, the authorities have instead tried to do away with the appearance of those rights. For example, the Personnel Office removed the ID numbers on the LT teachers 1994 Sophia ID cards. The teachers were taken out of the computerized list of Employees.
Consequently, the Personnel office tried to change the description of the teacher's payment from kyuryo (an employee's salary) to share (i.e., a lecture fee paid to an independent contractor).
These actions were taken even though the authorities had promised that there would be no changes to the status of the teachers.
Union intervention resulted in the restoration of the ID number: the kyuryo description is still under negotiation.
Also, the Community College Office is on record as having the opinion that all Community College teachers should be treated as a gakugaisha or "people outside the university." How ironic, and how sad, that teachers with 10, 15, 20 years of service to Sophia y are seen as being outside the Sophia community.
The teachers have decided to stay and fight through SUITE because they have very strong feelings for their school. They enjoy the unique opportunity which exists in the Community College program to serve the greater Tokyo community. Community College students are dedicated, ambitious, eager and challenging and they are appreciated. They are mindful of how important education is, and they are thus a joy to teach.
We welcome the Sophia professors that have recently begun teaching at the Community College. These teachers are no doubt discovering how personally and professionally rewarding teaching at the Community College can be.
Variety is a key word within the College. We have teachers from all over the world and from all walks of life. Among our ranks we have people from America, Australia, Belgium, Brazil,; Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Portugal, Spain, and Sri Lanka. Internationalization is the norm at Sophia and at its Community College. The College thus helps fulfill one of the basic principles that Sophia was founded upon: the mission to be a bridge between the East and West.
The College is unique in that while it is not a degree granting school, it is not a "culture center" school or a "conversation" school either. The Community College is an academically oriented school for students interested in university level education in foreign languages, in inter-cultural awareness, or in a potpourri of specific subjects. Many students take several classes each term, often studying in two or more languages. Students and teachers alike are fortunate to share this positive environment.
Unfortunately, our community has lost many members recently. In the last year one teacher died, many retired, and several teachers were fired without cause. Those teachers who were forced out were given no explanation or reason for their dismissal except: "Your services are no longer required." It must be emphasized that there was no economic reason for the firings: these teachers had popular classes and new teachers have been hired.
Other teachers have been indirectly forced out by the office. Typically these people were given schedules radically different from normal. When they asked for their normal class times they were simply told to "work somewhere else if you do not like it."
SUITE is also concerned with the human rights of our members. Please consider Mr. Roosevelt Dowdy's case. Mr. Dowdy, a Sophia alumnus. has been teaching at Sophia since 1973.
In 1987 the school sent Mr. Dowdy an information, pamphlet and invited him to join the school's pension program. They told him that he could receive a pension after paying into the system for 10 years. Mr. Dowdy did not ask to be part of the program; the Personnel Office volunteered to bring him in.
At the same time that the school was trying to have the teachers accept the Entrustment Agreement, the Personnel Office informed Mr. Dowdy that his pension was not valid and that they had therefore canceled it. Mr. Furukawa gave no proper explanation for the cancellation - he only said that the pension was not the responsibility of the school, canceled the pension and refused to reimburse Mr. Dowdy.
Did the authorities find it awkward to have a person they were trying to view as a "non-employee" to have the right to a pension? Were they trying to intimidate the teachers? For whatever reason, Mr. Dowdy's pension was canceled. Without reimbursement.
Mr. Dowdy had already paid over ¥1,500,000 into the fund. By paying that money he relied on Sophia to pay the promised pension after retirement. In a spirit of cooperation, though, Mr. Dowdy has offered to accept reimbursement of only, the amount paid - without interest. The school has continued to; take no responsibility whatsoever in this matter.
SUITE feels that these actions violate labor rights and common decency, not to mention Christian principles.
Another major goal of the SUITE union is to establish an official forum for communication between the school and the workers. It seems that our previous informal attempts at open communication have been largely ignored. The union will enable us to discuss matters of importance with the relevant administrative authorities which they would be otherwise be unable to do.
We welcome your support.
We will appreciate hearing from you. If you have any questions, comments or advice, or if you would like to become a E member or supporter of SUITE, please drop by the Community College Teacher's Room (from 5:00 to 6:00 is best) or send a note to one of the officers below in care of the Center For Extension Programs. We look forward to hearing from you!
Suite Union Officers
President : Roosevelt Dowdy
Vice Presidents : Martin Foulds (General Affairs) Seena
Reese (Organizing) Lorraine Elletson (Public Relations)
Secretaries General : Fabienne Guillemin & Kevin Cleary
Treasurer : Tim Cornwall Auditor : D.
Holden Press Liaison : Yves Gravel
SUITE Newsletter
Volume 1, Number 2 October 1, 1994
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Volume 1, Number 3 October 13, 1994
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Volume 1, Number 4 October 25, 1994
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Volume 1, Number 5 November 10, 1994
SUITE Newsletter
Volume 1, Number 6 December 13, 1994
SUITE Newsletter
Volume 2, Number 1 July 4, 1995
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