【Case study report】The Potential Power of an Employee Majority Representative to Protect Employment Conditions

<p>Nihon University has been firing part-time lecturers and reducing their classes since November 2017, and the Union of University Part-Time Lecturers in the Tokyo Area has worked to protect the professors. I was elected Employee Majority Representative for the Economics Faculty for the 2018 academic year, and in 2019, I advocated the following two policies. First, if the Dean of the Faculty of Economics forces through the dismissal of part-time teachers, rejects the extension of teaching contracts, or decreases the number of classes, I would use my authority as Majority Representative to oppose the policies. Above all, I would refuse to conclude an Article 36 agreement, which is necessary to allow employees to work overtime. This would be a serious measure since full-time professors have heavy educational burdens, working in excess of the standard for class hours and doing considerable overtime. There were four concrete proposals. 1） The standard teaching load of five classes a week should be regarded as a 40-hour work week covering the entire year on the grounds that full-time teachers need to prepare classes, study, and perform university duties. 2） Additional classes, especially graduate school courses, should count as 120 hours overtime per class. 3） If full-time teachers conduct these additional classes, they should receive not the standard additional class allowance but overtime payment. 4） The upper limit of overtime work under an Article 36 agreement should be 360 hours.</p> <p> There is great potential for utilizing the authority of the Employee Majority Representative to improve work conditions for non-regular faculty members and other university staff.</p>