{"id":16918,"date":"2021-12-15T10:10:40","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T18:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=16918"},"modified":"2021-12-15T20:10:59","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T04:10:59","slug":"miyazaki-international-university-cut-their-elderly-professors-salaries-by-20-after-a-7-year-battle-fukuoka-high-court-rules-this-as-illegal-a-victory-for-foreign-plaintiffs-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=16918","title":{"rendered":"Miyazaki International College cut their elderly professors’ salaries by 20%. After a 7-year battle, Fukuoka High Court rules this illegal. A victory for foreign plaintiffs too."},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi Blog. \u00a0A friend sends word that his group of plaintiffs, some of whom are Non-Japanese, won their lawsuit against a university employer that had been ongoing for seven years.<\/p>\n

In his words:<\/p>\n

=========================<\/p>\n

December 9, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are getting this notice, it’s because you contributed in some way to our win in this case so CONGRATULATIONS! A few of you contributed massively, putting in many many hours of work, some helped by providing data or a letter we could submit to the court to counter MEI lies, or helped with translation, or showed up in court, or are union members who voted for funding. Some of you spread the word about the case. Some just said, “Gambatte!” when we needed it.<\/em><\/p>\n

My point here is it took a long term (7 years for some of us!) team effort by dozens of us to finally succeed, and succeed we did in the high court. We could not have achieved a better\u00a0outcome…<\/em><\/p>\n

MEI has two weeks to appeal to the Supreme Court. And they might. That’s for them to worry about, not us.<\/em><\/p>\n

In terms of money, I won all of my back pay, plus 5% interest, plus court fees that I had paid. I was not compensated\u00a0for attorney fees, or mental anguish. We have no anchor website for this issue.<\/em><\/p>\n

The main reasons we won were:\u00a0<\/em>
\n1.) MEI failed to negotiate in good faith with the union about the cut\u00a0<\/em>
\n2.) They had no real financial need to reduce salaries\u00a0<\/em>
\n3.) There was no reduction in workload or other compensation for the reduction in pay.<\/em><\/p>\n

Flyer we made public:<\/em>
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

COMMENT FROM DEBITO<\/strong>: \u00a0This matters because there’s a long tradition in Japan of Academic Apartheid<\/a>, where foreign academics in higher education<\/a> are given contracted status (increasingly, term-limited<\/a>) while Japanese-citizen academics are given uncontracted, permanent tenure from day one of employment. \u00a0This is probably the oldest issue we’ve taken up on Debito.org, and it’s only gotten worse over the quarter-century of coverage: \u00a0Instead of more foreign academics becoming tenured like Japanese, the trend is to “gaijinize” the Japanese faculty (as a money-saving effort encouraged by the Ministry of Education all the way back in 1995<\/a>) by putting them on contracts, eliminating tenure in an attempt to clean out disagreeable leftists from Japan’s universities.<\/p>\n

MEI’s move to put everyone above a certain age on a different lower pay scale (Japanese and foreign) was a line the Fukuoka High Court was not willing to allow under the law. \u00a0Good to have that precedent set.\u00a0Conclusion: \u00a0Join a union if you’re working in Japan. \u00a0Then fight these things in court as a union.<\/p>\n

Despite this being important news for Japan’s academics, it hasn’t made the English-language media. \u00a0So let me translate the Mainichi’s brief on this. \u00a0Debito Arudou, Ph.D.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
\n\u672a\u6255\u3044\u8cc3\u91d1\u8a34\u8a1f\u3001\u5143\u6559\u6388\u304c\u9006\u8ee2\u52dd\u8a34\u3000\u300c\u4e0d\u5229\u76ca\u5927\u304d\u3044\u300d\u3000\u9ad8\u88c1\u5bae\u5d0e\u652f\u90e8
\n\u6bce\u65e5\u65b0\u805e\u30002021\/12\/10 Courtesy of one of the plaintiffs
\nhttps:\/\/mainichi.jp\/articles\/20211210\/k00\/00m\/040\/049000c.amp<\/a><\/p>\n

\u7d66\u4e0e\u57fa\u6e96\u6539\u5b9a\u306b\u3088\u308b\u5e74\u4ff8\u306e2\u5272\u6e1b\u984d\u306f\u52b4\u50cd\u5951\u7d04\u6cd5\u306b\u53cd\u3057\u7121\u52b9\u3060\u3068\u3057\u3066\u5bae\u5d0e\u56fd\u969b\u5927\u5b66\uff08\u5bae\u5d0e\u5e02\uff09\u5143\u6559\u6388\u306e60\u4ee3\u7c73\u56fd\u4eba\u7537\u6027\u304c\u5b66\u6821\u6cd5\u4eba\u5bae\u5d0e\u5b66\u5712\u306b\u5bfe\u3057\u3001\u6539\u5b9a\u524d\u3068\u306e\u5dee\u984d\u306e\u672a\u6255\u3044\u8cc3\u91d1\u7d04425\u4e07\u5186\u306e\u652f\u6255\u3044\u3092\u6c42\u3081\u305f\u8a34\u8a1f\u306e\u63a7\u8a34\u5be9\u5224\u6c7a\u3067\u3001\u798f\u5ca1\u9ad8\u88c1\u5bae\u5d0e\u652f\u90e8\u306f8\u65e5\u3001\u8acb\u6c42\u68c4\u5374\u3057\u305f3\u6708\u306e1\u5be9\u30fb\u5bae\u5d0e\u5730\u88c1\u5224\u6c7a\u3092\u53d6\u308a\u6d88\u3057\u3001\u7537\u6027\u5074\u306e\u8acb\u6c42\u3092\u5168\u3066\u8a8d\u3081\u305f\u3002<\/p>\n

\u5224\u6c7a\u306b\u3088\u308b\u3068\u3001\u5143\u6559\u6388\u306f2000\u5e74\u306b\u6709\u671f\u96c7\u7528\u306e\u8b1b\u5e2b\u3068\u3057\u3066\u63a1\u7528\u3055\u308c\u3001\u5951\u7d04\u66f4\u65b0\u3057\u306a\u304c\u3089\u52e4\u52d9\u3057\u7d9a\u305117\u5e74\u306b\u6559\u6388\u306b\u6607\u9032\u300220\u5e74\u306b\u9000\u8077\u3057\u305f\u3002\u5b66\u6821\u6cd5\u4eba\u5074\u306f15\u5e74\u3001\u53b3\u3057\u3044\u8ca1\u653f\u72b6\u6cc1\u3092\u7406\u7531\u306b\u6709\u671f\u96c7\u7528\u6559\u8077\u54e1\u306e60\u6b73\u4ee5\u964d\u306e\u5e74\u4ff8\u3092\u5f93\u524d\u306e2\u5272\u6e1b\u306b\u6539\u5b9a\u3002\u5143\u6559\u6388\u3082\u6e1b\u984d\u5bfe\u8c61\u3068\u306a\u3063\u305f\u304c\u3001\u4e0d\u5229\u76ca\u304c\u5927\u304d\u304f\u5408\u7406\u7684\u3068\u8a8d\u3081\u3089\u308c\u306a\u3044\u3068\u3057\u305f\u3002<\/p>\n

\u9ad8\u6a4b\u4eae\u4ecb\u88c1\u5224\u9577\u306f\u300c\u6559\u54e1\u9593\u306e\u4e0d\u5747\u8861\u3082\u3042\u308a\u3001\u6e1b\u984d\u306b\u4f34\u3046\u4e0d\u5229\u76ca\u7de9\u548c\u306e\u305f\u3081\u306e\u7d4c\u904e\u63aa\u7f6e\u3084\u4ee3\u511f\u63aa\u7f6e\u3082\u53d6\u3089\u308c\u3066\u3044\u306a\u3044\u300d\u3068\u6cd5\u4eba\u5074\u306e\u4e3b\u5f35\u3092\u9000\u3051\u305f\u3002\u3010\u5869\u6708\u7531\u9999\u3011<\/p>\n

Unofficial translation:<\/p>\n

Unpaid Salaries Lawsuit: \u00a0Former Professors see their prior decision against them overturned: \u00a0“This is a huge disadvantage” says Fukuoka High Court Miyazaki Branch<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mainichi Shinbun, December 10, 2021, translation by Debito, corrections welcome.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Due to a revision in the basic salary levels, Miyazaki International College cut their former professors’ base salaries by 20% once they reached sixty years of age. Plaintiffs sued their employer, Miyazaki Gakuen, for breach of labor contract, and demanded they pay 42,500,000 yen of unpaid salaries based upon their previous contract status. \u00a0Upon appeal, on December 8 the Fukuoka High Court overturned the Miyazaki District Court’s prior ruling, and awarded the plaintiffs all of their claims.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

According to the decision, the former professors were employed on contract status as instructors from the year 2000, and over 17 years of contract renewals they achieved the rank of professor. \u00a0They retired in 2020. \u00a0According to the college, in 2015 they claimed financial distress and revised the base salary to cut 20% from all contracted educators over the age of sixty. \u00a0This pay cut also affected the former professors in question, and the court would not acknowledge the rationality of the cut due to it being overly disadvantageous to plaintiffs (furieki ga ookiku gouriteki to mitomerarenai to shita).<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Head Judge Takahashi Ryousuke said, “For the educators this is disproportionate, and the university did not even take measures such as other compensation that would alleviate the disadvantages that come with such a pay cut,” dismissing the college\u2019s claims. \u00a0ENDS<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

======================<\/p>\n

Do you like what you read on Debito.org? \u00a0Want to help keep the archive active and support Debito.org’s activities? \u00a0Please consider donating a little something. \u00a0More details here<\/a>. Or if you prefer something less complicated, just click on an advertisement below.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mainichi: Due to a revision in the basic salary levels, Miyazaki International College cut their former professors’ base salaries by 20% once they reached sixty years of age. Plaintiffs sued for breach of labor contract, demanding 42,500,000 yen of unpaid salaries. Although they lost in lower court, on December 8 the Fukuoka High Court overruled and awarded the plaintiffs all claims.\u00a0<\/p>\n

COMMENT: \u00a0This matters because there’s a long tradition in Japan of Academic Apartheid, where foreign academics in higher education are given contracted status (increasingly, term-limited) while Japanese-citizen academics are given uncontracted, permanent tenure from day one of employment. \u00a0This is probably the oldest issue we’ve taken up on Debito.org, and it’s only gotten worse over the quarter-century of coverage: \u00a0Instead of more foreign academics becoming tenured like Japanese, the trend is to “gaijinize” the Japanese faculty (as a money-saving effort encouraged by the Ministry of Education all the way back in 1995) by putting them on contracts, eliminating tenure in an attempt to clean out disagreeable leftists from Japan’s universities.<\/p>\n

MEI’s move to put everyone above a certain age (Japanese and foreign) on a different lower pay scale as well was a line the Fukuoka High Court was not willing to allow under the law. \u00a0Good to have that precedent set.\u00a0Conclusion: \u00a0Join a union if you’re working in Japan. \u00a0Then fight these things in court as a union.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,54,28,43,19,35,16,15,68,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-embedded-racism","category-pinprick-protests","category-anti-discrimination-templates","category-bad-business-practices","category-education","category-good-news","category-labor-issues","category-lawsuits","category-victories","category-8"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16918"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16935,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16918\/revisions\/16935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}