A Call by the Ritsumeikan Faculty Network for Support for APU Lecturers
Dear colleagues,A group of nineteen Ritsumeikan faculty members, believing that whether or not the APU Lecturers Dismissal Incident is resolved in a just manner will play a key role in determining whether or not the Ritsumeikan Academy develops in a healthy way in the future, hereby call on all faculty members of the Ritsumeikan Academy to provide both material and moral support to the APU lecturer who has filed a suit seeking a temporary disposition to preserve their employment status.
At Ritsumeikan Academy, faculty are, to a certain extent, guaranteed the freedom of speech. However, it hardly needs to be said that this guaranteed freedom comes with a heavy responsibility. With regard to issues such as this one, each member of faculty bears the responsibility to judge the facts by himself or herself, and take the actions that each believes is necessary. The following is a little long, but we would like to ask you to please read our statement to all faculty.
We hope and pray that members of the Board of Trustees will make a sincere effort to reach an early resolution of this dispute.
A Call by the Ritsumeikan Faculty Network for Support for APU Lecturers
12 July 2006Dear Colleagues,The Ritsumeikan Faculty Network for Support for APU Lecturers From All 19 Participating Members
Faculty of Law (Tenured Member of Faculty, 1)
Faculty of Industry and Society (Tenured Member of Faculty, 1)
Faculty of International Relations (Tenured Member of Faculty, 1)
Faculty of Policy Science (Tenured Member of Faculty, 1)
Faculty of Letters (Non-tenured Members of Faculty, 2)
Faculty of Letters (PhD Student, 1)
Language Education Center (Lecturer, 1)
Faculty of Economics (Tenured Members of Faculty, 4)
Faculty of Management (Tenured Members of Faculty, 2)
Faculty of Science and Engineering (Tenured Members of Faculty, 3)
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (Lecturer, 1)
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (Part-time Lecturer, 1)On 18 May, one of the APU Lecturers who were fired at the end of March this year initiated a suit at the Oita Local Court, seeking a temporary disposition to preserve their employment status. (For reports on this case in Japanese, see http://ac-net.org/rtm/No/46).
We call on all to provide the following support.
1. Signing a petition to be submitted to the Oita Local Court: http://university.sub.jp/apu/saiban/ (in Japanese) or http://university.sub.jp/apu/saiban/english/ (in English).
2. Providing voluntary contributions to support the court case
Postal Transfer Account No.: 01750-5-75138 Account Name:and to support the APU lecturer who has initiated it.
Oita Chiiki Rodo Kumiai APU BunkaiShiga Bank, Minami Kusatsu Ekimae Shiten,
Ordinary Account: Account Number 633143,
Account Holder Ritsumeikan Kyoin NettoDetails below.
In the autumn of 1999, immediately before APU was scheduled to open, an explanatory meeting for the eighteen individuals (including 14 full-time lecturers on contract) who were expected to start work at APU as Japanese language teachers was held at the Kinugasa Academia. All full-time lecturers who attended the meeting were given the impression that, unless they committed a serious sin, their employment at APU would be extended beyond the formal four year term. Having been given this impression, they determined to take up their new appointments in Beppu. Of the eighteen individuals who attended the meeting, all fourteen full-time lecturers, one tenured professor, and one tenured associate professor have signed a statement. According to this statement, they all remember that they heard an oral explanation at the meeting in which it was said that "you can extend your contract beyond the four years, but the terms and conditions will not change", "please stay [at APU] until you reach retirement", or the equivalent.
However, the Trust claims that it is impossible that a promise of continued employment was made. In July last year, the system for full-time lecturers on contract was abolished, and lecturers have been informed that they will be fired as their formal terms of employment run out. In March this year, the first group of lecturers were fired. These lecturers started working in April 2002, waiting three and a half years after being made an offer of employment. Those lecturers who were employed in March 2000 immediately before APU accepted its first group of students and those who were employed in April 2001 all had their contracts extended once but have been informed that when their second term runs out, they too will be fired.
Members of the Ritsumeikan Faculty Network for Support for APU Lecturers hereby attach two documents below. In the first, we have summarized the positions of both the lecturers and APU. One member of the Network, Professor KANEMARU Yuichi, has determined that the lecturers' position is correct, based on the recruiting policies he was informed of as a member of the Preparatory Committee to Establish APU (second document).
Even if the Trust's position is correct, it still must bear a heavy responsibility for the fact that almost everyone (and everyone who was an interested party - those who were scheduled to start working at APU as full-time lecturers) who participated in the meeting "misunderstood" the explanation. The Trust's position, which is to refuse even to accept this minimal level of responsibility, is a position which betrays the goodwill and trust of a society that provides numerous benefits to Ritsumeikan expecting commonsense and moral behaviour in return.
Four years after APU opened, it managed to fulfill its demanding goal of producing bilingual graduate students. The first batch of graduates included foreign students who came to APU knowing no Japanese, but were able not only to live in Japan without any inconvenience, but also to work on an equal level with Japanese students. This result was the product of the hard work put in by the faculty and administrative staff of the early APU, and also the support provided by the people and citizens of Oita and Beppu. At the same time, however, this result was a consequence of the blood, sweat and tears of the lecturers who taught Japanese, playing a central role in the Japanese education system of APU. They did more than was demanded of them, working day and night to develop language teaching methods. This fact has been acknowledged by the Board of Trustees. The devotion of the lecturers would normally be rewarded in some way. Instead, they have been fired. This is a sacrilege against the good intentions and the good faith of, and the contributions made by, all who work in the Ritsumeikan Academy. It is difficult not to feel deeply outraged at what has happened.
We believe that we, as teachers who are involved in students' character development, have an obligation to refuse to shut our eyes to violent management practices that are a sacrilege to the good faith of and contributions made by our colleagues, and to pray for and take steps to realize a resolution that is logical and that calls forth a response in the hearts of all. Moreover, this is also to realize the ideal of human respect which lies at the core of the slogan of Ritsumeikan Academy, "Peace and Democracy".
The fact that a young lecturer has been forced to take the serious step of going to court shows that the immorality of Ritsumeikan is ruining Ritsumeikan. This fact deeply grieves us. We have a deep respect and appreciation for this courageous and even self-sacrificing act, and would like to strongly call for the following support.
(1) Signing an internet petition: http://university.sub.jp/apu/saiban/ (see in English http://university.sub.jp/apu/saiban/english/). We call on all faculty to sign this petition. Please also write a message of support.
The written request to be submitted to the Judge of the Oita Local Court in charge of this case is available (in Japanese) at: http://university.sub.jp/apu/saiban/shomei/apu_tiihozenshienyousei.pdf It is also possible to sign on paper rather than on line. See (in Japanese) http://university.sub.jp/apu/saiban/index.php?job=shienyousei
(2) Providing voluntary contributions to support the court case.
Postal Transfer Account No.: 01750-5-75138The monies collected here will be used to pay for court and lawyer costs.
Account Name: Oita Chiiki Rodo Kumiai APU BunkaiAlso a bank account has been opened for people to deposit financial contributions to help support the APU lecturer who has initiated the court case seeking a temporary disposition to preserve his or her status. All funds deposited in this bank account will be transferred directly to the lecturer.
滋賀銀行 南草津駅前支店If a large number of Ritsumeikan faculty provide even a small amount each, it will provide moral and material support for the lecturer fighting this case.
普通預金口座番号 633143 名義人立命館教員ネットShiga Bank, Minami Kusatsu Ekimae Shiten
Ordinary Account: Account Number 633143,
Account Holder Ritsumeikan Kyoin Netto(3) The Network calls on the Ritsumeikan Academy Faculty and Staff Union, which has the ability to enter into direct negotiations with the Board of Trustees, to begin an independent investigation of this issue, and to influence the Board of Trustees to reach a quick resolution. The Network itself will also call on the Board of Trustees to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. When we do so, we intend to call on all to sign an internet appeal and hope that all will lend their support when we do so.
It can be conjectured that the Ritsumeikan Academy has fallen into a deep moral hazard as symbolized by this incident. This is a situation which must cause anxiety about Ritsumeikan's healthy development. While faculty are guaranteed a certain degree of freedom of speech, they also need to shoulder the responsibilities that come with his freedom. When specific matters of grave concern occur, if those members of faculty who are able to act cooperate in forming networks, overcoming differences in beliefs, interests, values, and campuses, and work together in an attempt to solve the problem, it is possible, even if there is only a small impact, for faculty to act as a brake on the progressing moral hazard. We hope that the Ritsumeikan Faculty Network for Support for APU Lecturers can become a precedent for this sort of activity. For those who agree with our aims, please participate through the following site: http://ac-net.org/rtm-net/.
In order to make the burden shouldered by those who are participating in the Network as light as possible, and in order to make the Network as maneuverable as possible, we will mainly concentrate our activities on the internet. To "participate" means to join the mailing list rtm-net of the Ritsumeikan Faculty Network for Support for APU Lecturers, to express opinions on the internet, and to join us if in agreement with the various calls articulated above.
Please note that, in order to make it as easy to participate as possible, the internet site will display only the affiliation, status (professor, associate professor etc.), and various statistics (the total number of participants, the faculties from which they come, age and status). Anonymous participation is possible.
Material No. 1A summary of the problem in which APU lecturers (teachers of Japanese) were fired (see, in Japanese, http://ac-net.org/rtm-net/index.php?job=apushousai).
The details and points in question as they emerge from the record of proceedings of five collective bargaining sessions that have been made available on the Home Page of the Oita Regional Labour Union APU Branch of the Oita Prefectural Labour Union Association (APU Branch below) (this includes 14 out of roughly 50 members of faculty at APU) (1) and APU's official position (2) have been laid out below. On 28 February, we informally discussed the issues with people associated with the APU Branch, and have added some details. We have also added the results of the mediation attempted by the Oita Regional Labour Union Committee on 23 March.
(1) For the record of proceedings of five collective bargaining sessions, see (in Japanese) http://www.geocities.jp/apuunion/page-06.html http://www.geocities.jp/apuunion/page-22.html
(2) See (in Japanese) http://www.apu.ac.jp/home/modules/news/article.php?storyid=278&sel_lang=japanese and (in English) http://www.apu.ac.jp/home/modules/news/article.php?storyid=278&sel_lang=english
11 July 2006 Authored by Network Participants
1. Facts that triggered the dispute: whether an attempt was made to recruit Japanese language teachers to APU by promising them that their contracts would be renewed after four years.
On 24 October 1999, immediately before APU began operations, an explanatory meeting was held at the Kinugasa Academia for eighteen individuals who were scheduled to start work at APU as Japanese language teachers (of the 18, 14 were full-time lecturers on contract).
According to the APU Branch, it was explained that "if you agree to come to APU, we will provide a housing allowance, and in four years, after your contracts run out, you will be able to extend them and continue working, and you will be able to work at APU until you reach the age of retirement, 60".
The testimony of a Professor. At the time, it was a strategically important and a difficult task to create a faculty organization that would provide reliable Japanese language education. In order to accomplish this task, a special structure was created in order to recruit Japanese language teachers. Recruitment required carrots, and people were told that "if you do not commit a serious sin, you will be able to extend your contracts". A friend of mine said "this is a post that is more secure than most" and applied for a job at APU.
Testimony of a concerned party. An explanation was given in which it was said that "the four year contracts can be extended any number of times". After being offered a position, I was kept waiting for 3.5 years, and in 2002 finally took up a position.
Testimony of another party. I was told "when your contracts run out, you will be able to extend them. Please stay at APU until you are 60".
The Position of the Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees has interviewed the person in charge of the explanatory meeting. According to this individual, he or she did say "you can reapply for your positions after the contracts run out" but "I did not promise that they would be reemployed". However, it must be acknowledged that at this point and indeed up until 2002, the Board of Trustees had no clear policy vis-_-vis what was going to happen after four years.
According to the APU Branch, a signed document has been submitted to the court by 16 of the people at the explanatory meeting (14 fulltime lecturers, one professor, one associate professor) which claims that an explanation was given in which those in attendance were told that their contracts could be renewed. Some of the participants took memos of the meeting, and are prepared to hand these over to the court.
The Board of Trustees did not make it clear when the contracts were issued that once the four year contracts ran out, the employment relationship would also lapse. Rather, it sought to generate the expectation that the "employment would continue and be renewed" and this helped the participants make the decision to travel to APU, a campus a long way away. The Board of Trustees is responsible for this.
(2) From April 2006, it was announced that the system of full-time, contract lecturers at APU would be abolished and replaced by a new system based on senior tutors and junior tutors. Regarding this, on 20 July 2005, all full-time contract lecturers were called to a meeting and informed that "the system of full-time contract lecturers itself will be abolished in March 2006. All such lecturers now at APU will be fired as their contracts run out".
Four full-time contract lecturers teaching Japanese and English (members of the APU Branch) asked that they be reemployed as full-time contract lecturers. They were told that the system was going to disappear, so were forced to reapply for positions as senior tutors (a rank similar to the full-time contract lecturer, but without a research office or research funds, a denial of their function as researchers, and on one year contracts that could at best be extended to a maximum of three years, after which they would have to leave APU). On reapplying, only one of the four was given a contract as a senior tutor. The remaining three were fired in March 2006. Of these three, two (one English and one Japanese teacher) left.
(3). On 24 January this year, during the fifth collective bargaining meeting, the APU Branch offered a compromise plan (this had informally been offered in negotiations in December).
The APU Branch's position. From 2006, the number of students accepted into APU was going to increase by 50%, and so in four years, the total student body would increase from 4,000 to 6,000. Please evaluate the work of the Japanese language teachers to date and their contribution to the bilingual educational system of APU, and offer continued employment for the four years during which the number of students will rapidly increase. We will withdraw our demand that employment be offered until the age of 60. (The demand for continued employment was made in regard to all Japanese full-time contract lecturers who had started work before April 2002. For instance, a lecturer who started work in 2001 already had a guarantee for work until March 2008, so this would extend that by two years).
This compromise offer by the APU Branch was rejected by the Board of Trustees.
(4) The mediation attempted by the Oita Regional Labour Committee on 23 March 2006 was rejected by APU. (For details in Japanese, see http://ac-net.org/rtm-net/index.php?job=showdata&no=101).
The Committee's mediation plan was based on the idea that "both parties agree to move towards one another to provide employment for the one member of faculty whose case is most pressing alone, and to discuss in an appropriate forum the others at a later date". The APU Branch accepted this proposal, but APU rejected it, saying "the individual responsible for the explanatory meeting of 1999 says no promise was given and, because this concerns a central issue of personal affairs, there is no room for us to make any movement [towards a compromise]". The attempted mediation failed.
Material No. 2Colleagues of mine from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) were fired at the end of the last academic year, and have been forced to take legal action. I was a member of the Preparatory Committee to Establish Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, and I worked at APU for the first four years of its existence. Based on the insights gained through these experiences, I have determined that the position of those who were fired is correct and so am supporting them. If nothing is done, all lecturers involved in language teaching will be fired and replaced by teachers from non-academic language schools or by language tutors who will be paid a mere three million yen a year. To replace specialist language teachers with the cheapest non-academics available is equivalent to institutional suicide. Moreover, it contradicts the social mission of a university, which is to develop human resources. For these reasons, I am deeply concerned about APU's direction.
Kanemaru Yuichi, Professor, Faculty of Economics, Ritsumeikan University