オンラインレッスン記録　001

09/15/2016

Panel bans Tokyo university’s Japanese-only labor talks policy

TOKYO —

A labor panel ordered a Tokyo university Wednesday to not refuse to use English in negotiations with a foreign teachers’ labor union at its affiliated school.

Tokyo Gakugei University had notified the union at Tokyo Gakugei University International Secondary School that it would hold talks only if Japanese is used, said the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Labor Relations Commission.

The panel branded the policy an “unfair” labor practice and ordered the state-run university to correct it.

“In principle it is labor and management that mutually decide the rules for collective bargaining. The university has absolutely not allowed any rule other than what it supports, and…has (not) made any effort to find a point of compromise to reach an agreement,” the commission said.

In August 2014, the labor union of foreign teachers requested the university to allow it to use English for negotiations. The university responded that it would hold talks in Japanese, and the union should arrange an interpreter if one were necessary, according to the panel.

Collective bargaining sessions held in September 2014 and January 2015 were aborted as both sides could not reach a solution to the language issue and to the arrangement of an interpreter.

Thereafter the university said it would hold negotiations only if Japanese were used, according to the commission.

JAPANTODAY Aug. 25, 2016 – 06:17AM JST
https://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/panel-bans-tokyo-universitys-japanese-only-labor-talks-policy

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through collective bargaining ・・・　団体交渉を通じて
abort ・・・無駄に終わる、失敗する

vernacular・・・その土地の言葉
patriotic ・・・愛国心
sanity ・・・正気

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Study shows there are two divorce seasons (25th August, 2016)

Couples might want to put a little extra effort into their marriage just before March and August every year. Sociologists have identified annual spikes in the number of divorces filed in these two months. Researchers from the University of Washington analysed data for divorces filed in the U.S. state of Washington between 2001 and 2015. There were almost 25,000 divorces filed in the state in 2014 alone. The scientists found that over the 14-year period of the study, divorce rates peaked in August, after the summer holidays, and in March, after the Christmas and New Year holidays. Some researchers said the divorces could be due to financial problems caused by the winter and summer holidays.

Researcher Julie Brines suggested that the anti-climax felt after the build-up to holidays, and the holidays themselves, may leave couples feeling stressed and deflated. She said: "People tend to face the holidays with rising expectations, despite what disappointments they might have had in years past." She added: "[Holidays] represent periods in the year when there’s the anticipation or the opportunity for a new beginning, a new start, something different, a transition into a new period of life. It’s like an optimism cycle." Couples generally spend more time in closer proximity to each other during holidays, which may actually exacerbate tensions rather than rekindle romance.

Breaking News English
https://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1608/160825-divorce-season.html

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proximity・・・（時間・空間・関係の）近いこと
exacerbate ・・・悪化させる
tension ・・・緊張状態
rekindle ・・・もう一度呼び覚ます

file ・・・提訴する
annulment・・・（婚姻など）無効の判決
polygamous ・・・一夫多妻の
conjugal ・・・夫婦の
pre-nuptial agreement・・・婚前契約
concubinage・・・内縁関係

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■今回のレッスンの心構え

・短文でもいいので、はっきり、ゆっくり話す。聞いている間は、あいづち Aha などをいうようにする。

・ I’m good, you?
・Busy, but good. How about you?
・company cafeteria
・compose a document / generate documents
・KPI （key performance indicator）

先生は、ミンダナオ島に住む　livelihood education の教授。

ミンダナオ島
ルソン島（首都マニアがある島）に次いで2番目に大きい島。