June 28, 2009 (Sunday)
1:00pm to 4:00pm
Tokyo Nambu Office, Shimbashi 5-17-7 2F, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Map: http://nambufwc.org/contact

The law says one thing, employers do another. Find out what the law is about universal public health insurance and pension and learn about the infamous 3/4 threshhold.  We will have a short lecture followed by a long Q&A period.  We will not persuade you one way or another, just give you the facts and let you decide.

Casual atmosphere, free entry, bring a friend.

The following event is organized by the Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan, an organization of NGOs of which Tokyo Nambu is a member.

The “NGO Committee against the Introduction of the “Zai-ryu ” Residence Card” calls on people living in Japan, both citizens and foreign residents, to join together to oppose discriminatory revisions to immigration law.

All Tokyo Nambu members and interested parties are encouraged to attend.

Date:

May 24 (Sunday)
14:00-15:30 Assembly
16:00-17:00 Rally

Location:

Koutsu Biru in Shimbashi  (Minato-ku, Shimbashi 5-15-5)(6 minutes walk from JR Shimbashi   Station, Karasumori Exit)
Link to leaflet and map: http://www.repacp.org/aacp/pdf/MultiLang/20090420LeafENv01.pdf

The assembly will include an overview of the proposed reforms to Immigration Law, and speeches by participants. Additional speakers are welcome! Participants are encouraged to bring their own banners and signs to carry in the demonstration.

Background

Reform bills proposed this year will mean stricter registration requirements for foreign residents and stiff penalties for infractions. Foreign residents will be obliged to report changes in personal information, such as moving to a new address. Failure to notify on time can mean a fine of up to 200,000, and, in some cases, revocation of visa. Documented foreigners will be subject to heightened Surveillance, while undocumented foreign residents will “disappear” from the record and be excluded from social services entirely.

Organized by:Executive Committee for the May 24 Assembly Against Immigration Law Reform (Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan, Network for Human Rights Legislation for Foreigners)

Contact:Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan
Tel: 03-5802-6033
E-mail: fmwj@jca.apc.org

Research Action Institute for Koreans in Japan (RAIK)
raik@abox5.so-net.ne.jp

FWC members,

Join the May Day festivities at Hibiya Park on Friday, May 1, starting at 9:30 a.m.  Thousands of unionists attend this event, so be sure to meet up with the Nambu crowd at the location below.

Some historical notes: 

1886: First strike in Japan, conducted by women working in a textile factory in Kofu. The first union wasn’t formed until 1897, and women didn’t even have the vote - nonetheless, they won concessions from the factory owners.

1920 : Japan’s first May Day, held in Ueno Park, attended by 10,000 people.
 
1952:  Stronger unions meet with police oppression; two people killed in an incident known as “Bloody May Day”. 
Read more at http://nugwnambu.org/pages/headlines/maydayorigen.htm

These days, the police are just there to direct traffic, while the oppression takes the form of working-poor wages, jobs with no security, holes in the social safety net, and the myriad other problems we face at work every day.

The May Day assembly is held in the Open Air Concert Hall (Yagai Ongaku-do) in Hibiya Park (see map attached.) We
meet in the area behind the hall, labelled “Seagull Area (Local Forest)” -  Japanese name Kamome-hiroba,
Kyodo-no-mori.

http://www.tokyo-park.or.jp/english/park/detail_02.html

This documentary, shot in Tokyo in March 2008 by a German-Japanese film crew, details migrant workers fighting for their rights as workers and citizens.

March 23 (Monday) 19:00-21:00
Shimbashi Fukushi Kaikan MAP
Tokyo, Minato-ku, Shimbashi 6-4-2

３月２３日（月）１９：００～２１：００
新橋福祉会館 地図
〒105-0004 東京都港区新橋6丁目4番2号

INTRODUCTION AND DISCUSSION LED BY ARUDOU DEBITO
(blogger www.debito.org, Japan Times columnist, and author of Japanese Only and Handbook for Newcomers)
OPTIONAL DONATION OF 500 YEN

ENGLISH&JAPANESE SUBTITLES

日独合作のドキュメンタリー映画である。日本で自らの権利のために戦う外国人労働者の姿を描いた本作品では、当事者たちの感じたことが中心に位置づけられ、彼ら自身が主人公となって自らの状況を語っている。

日本語・英語 字幕

Sour Strawberries Poster

Focus on Workers? Understanding of Their Rights

When workers have an understanding of their employment rights, it is only natural that they would like to enforce these rights when necessary. However, in reality it is quite common to encounter difficulties when attempting to enforce one?s rights by oneself. It is at such times that workers are likely to understand the necessity of unions and as a result starts to consider becoming a member. On the other hand, even the case where a worker is not a member of a union or is employed at a non-unionized company, they will not feel the need to become a member if these rights are able to be enforced on their own.

Hence, it can be said that an understanding of workers? rights carries the possibility not only of enabling protection of these rights individually, but also of making workers conscious of the necessity of unions as a means to protect their rights. In short, workers? knowledge of their rights can be seen as influencing their decision to support unions as well as enhancing the ability and possibility of protecting their own fundamental rights. However, in Japan there are reports that suggest a decline in workers? level of understanding of their rights. (Hara and Sato 2004, and NHK 2003).

http://www.jil.go.jp/english/documents/JLR10_hara&sato.pdf