Dennis Tesolat is chair of the General Union based in Osaka. Founded in 1991, the organization is part of a national private sector trade union known as Zenkoku-Ippan (the National Union of General Workers), which belongs to a confederation known as Zenrokyo (National Trade Union Council).
Most of the General Union¡¯s membership are English teachers in the Kansai and Tokai regions, though they also serve teachers across the country when possible. (Tesolat cites a recent success in which they represented assistant language teachers (ALTs) in Gifu Prefecture against the Mizuho City Board of Education.)
¡°History has made us a union specializing in education,¡± Tesolat says. ¡°We became strong in negotiations for teachers because our membership is mostly foreign teachers.¡±
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