Japan Press Weekly

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2015 November 25 - December 1 TOP3 [LABOR]

Part-time lecturers at Waseda Univ. win open-ended contract

A union representing part-time lecturers at Waseda University announced that it agreed with the university to settle their labor dispute on condition that the university will withdraw its policy of dismissing part-time lecturers after five years of service. In a press conference held on November 25 at the Labor Ministry office building, the union said that this agreement will be applied to about 3,000 part-time lecturers there.

Waseda University in March 2013 unilaterally changed its rules of employment and set a five-year term limit on contracts with part-time lecturers. The Waseda Union of Part-time Lecturers sued the university for changing the rules in violation of the Labor Standards Act.

The agreement will cover part-time lecturers who started to work before March 31, 2014. They will be able to ask the university to convert their contracts to an open-ended one after their five years’ service. Meanwhile, those who began working after April 1, 2014 will be excluded from the agreement and the union will continue negotiating with the university administration about this matter.

The Japanese Communist Party has worked to support the union. JCP member of the House of Councilors Tamura Tomoko in June 2013 took up the issue in the Diet.

Past related articles:
> Part-time teachers at Waseda Univ. form union against unfair termination of contracts [September 23, 2013]
> Part-time lecturers file complaint against Waseda Univ. for violation of labor law [June 22, 2013]
> Part-time lecturers condemn university for unilaterally changing work rules in violation of labor laws [April 14, 2013]