*August 25, 2022 Tokyo High Court Judgment The judgment has been posted on the "Lawsuit Materials" page.

* Postscript (2022/08/25) *

I have received support from many people in the first trial and the appeal trial.

From all of us at the secretariat, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for your kindness in various ways, including donations and supportive comments through CALL4, as well as court hearings and cooperation in the signature campaign.

The donations received were used for juristic opinions (educational law, labor law), legal team fees, litigation expenses, public relations expenses, etc.

The public relations expenses are used by the support office to create and distribute leaflets, hold events, etc.

Even at this stage, we have not been able to fully cover the burden of Dr. Masao Tanaka and the members of the legal team.

We have updated the target amount due to the fulfilling litigation activities in the final appeal.

I apologize for asking all of you, but I ask for your continued support in this trial.

[Introduction]

I am a student who aspires to be a teacher.

A friend of mine was one step ahead of me in realizing his dream and becoming a teacher. However, the fatigue from working long hours made me sick. I am on leave of absence. Even though he had fulfilled his dream and entered the field of education, long working hours tormented him.

The long working hours of teachers may be a major impediment to the environment in which children can learn. I felt that the problem of long working hours for teachers was not just a problem for incumbent teachers, schools, parents, and children. While researching various things, I met an incumbent teacher who filed an overtime lawsuit at the invitation of a friend. I was.

My name is Masao Tanaka (pseudonym).
“In our generation, we have to put a brake on this long working hours.”

Tanaka-sensei thinks about the future of education and fights out of a sense of crisis, not for the benefit of an individual. This is not just a teacher problem. It is a problem for everyone who has been involved in education, such as children who go to school, parents, and students who want to become teachers. And isn't it the problem of the system (mechanism) that is no one's fault?

Year by year, the ratio of teacher recruitment examinations is decreasing. It's not that the attractiveness of the teaching profession has not been conveyed. Seeing the negative side that outweighs the attractiveness, I have given up on becoming a teacher. There is a current situation where students who have entered university to become teachers and have studied hard become hesitant to become teachers.

The verdict of this trial is an important one that may lead to a major review of the way teachers work.

・I want the school to be a place where teachers who nurture human beings can work in a humane way.

・I want the school to be a place where children can learn with energetic and smiling teachers.

・I want the society to become a place where students who want to become teachers can do so without worrying about becoming a teacher.

To that end, we, as students, will support this lawsuit and call for a review of the law that causes teachers to work long hours. In this lawsuit, by reviewing the "working hours" of teachers, we aim to restore an environment where teachers can truly do their best "for the sake of children."

[Trigger of the trial]

Masao Tanaka (pseudonym) was a teacher at a public elementary school in Saitama Prefecture. I served for 38 years and retired at the end of Heisei 31. He has been re-appointed and is still on the podium.

Before his retirement, Masao Tanaka filed a lawsuit to correct long working hours, thinking that he should not pass on the irrational things he had experienced up until now to the young people who will lead the next generation.

[Current status of long working hours for teachers]

(1) About 30% of elementary school teachers and about 60% of junior high school teachers are working beyond the karoshi line. (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, “Survey on the Working Conditions of Teachers (2016)”)

(2) About 5,000 people a year take leave of absence due to depression or mental illness. (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, “Survey on Personnel Administration of Public School Teachers in 2018”)

③ 28 teachers died from overwork in 5 years

④In some local governments, there are cases where classes cannot be held for a month due to a shortage of teachers.

[Points of dispute]

Teachers at public schools are subject to a law called the Pay Special Law.

The Special Pay Act fixed the overtime pay for teachers at 4% of the monthly salary (teacher adjustment amount), while at the same time, it was divided into four types of work (practical training, school events, staff meetings, and emergency disasters) called the "four items of overtime". It stipulates that teachers are permitted to work overtime only.

In reality, however, teachers are forced to work long overtime hours, as they are ordered to perform many tasks other than the "four items of overtime," to which the Special Pay Act does not apply.

Such overtime work should be in violation of the Labor Standards Act, which stipulates the upper limit of working hours.

However, the current situation is that all overtime work by teachers is treated as "voluntary work" and is not subject to regulations on working hours or payment of overtime pay.

The work decided at the staff meeting is also categorized as ``voluntary work''. It's a situation that will be done.

This will not eliminate the long working hours of teachers.

In this lawsuit, the teacher's overtime work is not voluntary, and it is demanding payment of overtime pay for overtime work or payment of damages for being forced to work illegally.

(For more details, please refer to the website https://trialsaitama.info/)

[Need for funds]

The lawsuit this time is demanding payment of overtime pay for the overtime work done by the plaintiff against Saitama Prefecture, and it is expected to be a long-term one. Therefore, we would like to cover the following costs through crowdfunding.

・Litigation costs: About 500,000 yen for attorney's fees and various expenses related to the trial (copy fee, transportation fee, written opinion preparation fee, etc.) .

・Events and publicity expenses: About 500,000 yen for events and publicity expenses to be held to make the trial widely known to the public.

If there is a surplus in donations, we would like to use it to cover the cost of any related litigation in the future.

Widespread support from society is a great financial and emotional support for plaintiffs and their attorneys. Thank you for your support.

[From the founder]

The support secretariat was established by educational student volunteers. I didn't think it was irrelevant because I hadn't entered the field of education yet.

When I went to practice teaching, I saw the teachers who created a learning environment for children, and I thought what a wonderful and precious profession they are. I thought that it was a profession that involved in the growth of children and created the "future".

However, it was painful to hear from my friends who were one step ahead of me in realizing their dreams and entering the field of education. Their faces grew more weary. I had a friend who was mentally ill and took a leave of absence. I witnessed the working conditions of teachers.

An environment in which some people work from morning to night for the sake of their children, exhausting themselves and sometimes even destroying their minds and bodies. Is this really "for children"? No matter how good your educational activities are, if you don't have time to research and study them, you can't do effective educational activities.

Even if children send out an SOS, if they are exhausted and have no time to spare, their voices may not reach them. If we really want to help children, the first requirement is to create an environment where teachers can be healthy both physically and mentally.

I believe that this lawsuit is not a problem of a single teacher, but a movement to solve important and serious social problems and create a future society.

If you don't mind, thank you for your support.