Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union KUIS Workers Union

Who Are We?

We are a the Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union KUIS Workers Union, a group of lecturers and advisors who are proud to work at the Kanda University of International Studies. So far, we include lecturers and advisors from the ELI and SALC, but would welcome members from other departments in our goal to benefit and give voice to the entire faculty.

Our 2024 executive members and union representative include:

Executive President, Dallas Helton
Vice President, Sam Green
General Secretary, Ben Cowburn
Treasurer, Cooper Howland
Field Director, Ted Pare
IT Director, Andrej Krasnansky
Tozen Union Representative, Louis Carlet

Joining a union is so easy, even a baby could do it! The founding members visit the Kanda headquarters to declare our Union.

Pictured (from left to right): Nicky De Proost (holding Éowyn), Tanya Kelly, Chris Arnott, Amanda Yoshida, Denver Beirne, Michael Brown, Michael Burke, Heather Yoder, Louis Carlet (Tozen Representative), Ritika Singh (Tozen General Secretary), Mizuho Matsumoto (Tozen Organiser).

Why was a Union formed?

"I was actually very surprised that there was no active union at Kanda already. It is such a common thing in Europe! I think it’s important to have a union so we can stay protected and fight to protect others as well. I can’t imagine not supporting my coworkers."

Nicky, lecturer at the ELI

“I joined the KUIS Workers union from the beginning because I wanted a voice. MEXT’s arbitrary 50% face to face classes demand angered me and when the university suggested that reaching this fantasy figure would rest on the shoulders of the ELI teachers more than on other educators at KUIS I realised that my concerns would only be heard when joined officially with the voices of my colleagues. Thanks to everybody who has joined so far for your hard work and camaraderie.”

Chris, lecturer at the ELI

“A union should have been enacted long ago at an institution with this many foreign workers. We need protection, and we need a place to go when issues regarding labor law come up. I did not join because I dislike my workplace...far from it. I joined because of some of the policies and communication issues that arose during the pandemic. It became clear that forming a union would be the best way to protect ourselves and each other.”

Amanda, lecturer at the ELI

“Workers shouldn’t be pushed around and, to function properly, the university needs us. But without a union, workers do get pushed around and the university has little reason to take our concerns seriously. As a union, we stand up for each other, protect our rights and interests, and meet the university management on equal legal footing. I wanted to form a union because I believe it is both right and necessary for workers to look out for one another, and this is how we do that.”

Michael, lecturer at the ELI

What Is Tozen?

What does Tozen do?

Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union (Tozen, 東ゼン) is a union which does not restrict membership to those working in any one industry, trade or workplace. The branches oversee the day-to-day affairs of the union at each workplace.

Tozen is a fighting union! That means that the union is willing to engage in industrial action in pursuit of its aims. In the case of dispute cases, the union will use any and all legal means at its disposal to achieve victory.

In short, Tozen:

protects workers if a problem in the workplace arises;
negotiates directly with management for better working conditions;
fights for workers’ rights, job security and democracy in the workplace; and
offers support and counselling to members.

What has Tozen accomplished in the past?

Tozen doesn’t restrict membership, so they represent various industries.

Recently, they accomplished yearly pay raises for the employees of a certain bank. They were able to force Shane English School to give full Corona pay and are currently proposing permanent employment. At an eikaiwa, they have won a five-minute break between classes. They also won pay parity between men and women at a Japanese company, as well as permanent employment for one teacher at a university.

This is but a brief list of the more current achievements. The KUIS Workers Union hopes to add their own reached goals to this list!

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