10 thousand gathered to share the anger and grief of Okinawans

 

More than 10 thousand people gathered in front of the Diet Building on June 19^th to protest the rape and murder of a young woman in Okinawa by a US ex-marine. The June 19^th Rally for Peace and Life started with a moment of silence to share the grief of the Okinawans. The opening speech was by HOKAMA Mieko, who had appeared on the Labornet TV on June 8^th. She spoke about how Okinawa was treated unreasonably by the Japanese government after returning to Japan in 1972. She went on to say that people of Okinawa are living on with the history and are always offering condolences to the dead. OSHIRO Satoru, the Director of the Okinawa Peace Movement Center urged the participants to make a country without military bases by saying, “Nothing has changed since the murder of a 6 year-old girl in 1950. Enough is enough! Let’s fight  the Abe government until they get rid of the bases, for the future of Okinawa.”

(KASAHARA Mayumi)

 Photo by Shinya

国会前は1万人であふれた！～怒りと悲しみの沖縄県民大会に呼応する「6.19大行動」

怒りと悲しみの沖縄県民大会に呼応する「命と平和のための6.19大行動」は19日午後、国会前で開かれ1万人の人波であふれた。沖縄の県民大会の人々と心を合わせ、この度の悲しい事件に1分間の「沈黙」を行ったことで、私たちがなぜここに集い、何をしようとしているのかをあらためて思った。開会のあいさつは、外間三枝子さん。6月8日のレイバーネットTVの 「No Rape No Base～沖縄の声」に出ていただいた方。戦後から本土復帰、その後の本土が沖縄に行った数々の理不尽を語り、自分たちは過去の歴史と共に生きている。そして本土の政権に対する抗議と言うより、死者に対する弔意の気持ちと共にあると結んだ。沖縄平和運動センター・事務局長の大城悟さんは、1950年に起きた6歳の少女の痛ましい事件から、少しも改善されていない。もう我慢の限界だ!!　沖縄の未来のために連帯を一層強めて安倍政権に迫り、基地のないこの国をともに作ってまいりましょうと。（笠原眞弓）　＊写真＝shinya

Final victory for NEZU Kimiko’s Kuimigayo case

“I never thought I could win such a verdict” said NEZU Kimiko excitedly. In 2007, NEZU was suspended for 6 months  for not standing up while the national anthem “Kimigayo” was played in a commencement ceremony at a junior high school in Tokyo. Her colleague KAWARAI Junko was suspended for 3 months. Nezu filed a lawsuit and last year, the Tokyo High Court ordered the annulment of the suspension and the payment of 100 thousand Yen for damages. On May 31th, the Supreme Court turned down the appeal. This was the first time that Nezu won a legal case. A meeting to report this victory was held in Tokyo on June 19^th. Some of her ex-pupils attended the meeting and one of them aged 25 commented, “I celebrate this victory, as if it were my own. I heard at that time from the headmaster that Nezu was suspended for not singing the Kimigayo and thought it was not right. So I made a handout about the national anthem and gave it to her. I talked a lot with her and learned from her the importance of maintaining one’s thoughts.”(SASAKI Yumi)

 Photo: Nezu Kimiko (right) and Kawarai Junko

「自分の考えをつらぬくことを学んだ」～根津さんの教え子も勝訴を祝福
 

「まさか生きている間に、こんな勝利判決が確定するとは思っていなかった」と根津公子さんは声をはずませた。5月末日最高裁は都の上告を棄却した。これで、 「君が代」不起立に対する根津さん6カ月、河原井純子さん3カ月の停職処分取り消し、都にそれぞれ10万円の損害賠償を命じた高裁判決が確定した。根津さんの数ある裁判の中でこの勝利判決は初めてのことだった。6月19日、裁判勝利報告集会が中野商工会館で開かれ、約60名が参加した。この集会には、根津さんの教え子も参加した。今年25歳になるEさんは、次のように話した。「今回の勝訴は自分のことのようにうれしい。当時、校長から先生が停職になったの は、『君が代』を歌わなかったからと聞いて、おかしいと思った。新聞のチラシを参考に『君が代』のことをプラカードにして先生にわたした。門前で先生とたくさん話をした。先生の不起立をつらぬく姿勢から、自分の考えをつらぬくことを学んだ」。（佐々木有美） 　＊写真＝河原井純子さん（左）と根津公子さん

Support workers at Tokyo curry shops facing job losses, demanding unpaid wages

 

Indian and Bangladeshi workers at curry restaurants in Tokyo

are on the brink of job and housing losses as the holding company

decided to close the restaurants as of June 20.

15 workers of Shanti, an Indian curry chain with five outlets in Tokyo,

have not been paid properly for last two years,

not at all this year. Many of them lost accommodation due to a fire in

February and have since been staying in the restaurants.

The president of the company recently demanded them in writing to leave

by June 17, while the workers maintain that they are willing to leave as

soon as they receive the salaries and overtime totaling 62.96 million

yen the company owes to them. They have filed complaints at a labor

standard office in Tokyo  to recover the unpaid wages through

negotiation, but the company has not responded so far. The difficulties

of the workers who are threatened with eviction are exacerbated by the

lack of their abilities in the Japanese language. Some customers who are

supporting these workers have opened a Twitter account to disseminate

information. Follow @support4shanti and support the workers!  

 

They are now formally organized!～Latest situation as of June 23

The workers established on June 23 an independent union with

a help of a Japanese labor lawyer. After the initial news came out,

the support to them surged: the twitter account followers quickly

reached over 2000, mass media and more independent journalists

visited the restaurants to cover this topic. On June 22, three workers

who are now the president, the vice president and the general-secretary

of the union appeared on the Labornet TV program. (By M)

Archive video of the Labornet TV (thesection starts around 58:00)

インドカレー店「シャンティ」従業員が解雇・追い出しの危機！

東京の駒込・大塚などに5店舗を展開するインドカレー店「シャンティ」の外国人従業員（15名）が、6月20日付けで店舗閉鎖・解雇を迫られています。しかもインド・バングラデシュのかれらには、2年間まともに給料が払われていません。今年に入ってからは1円ももらっていないといいます。また住むところを奪われ、現在店舗で寝泊まりしてます。会社・児玉政之社長は、文書で「6月17日までに店舗から退去しなさい」と通告してきました。シャンティ従業員は「未払い賃金・残業代」総額6296万円（1人平均420万円）を払えばすぐに出ていくといいます。現在、未払い賃金支払いを求めて池袋労基署に訴え、会社との話し合いを求めています。しかし会社からの返事はなく「追い出し」の危機が迫っています。店の売上げは順調で、閉鎖の理由は不明。従業員は日本語が不自由ですが、常連客の協力で15日にツイッターを開設し情報発信を始めました。かれらの声を聞いてください。（M）

 動画（従業員の訴え 4分）