Osaka gov't workers' emails screened for evidence of union, political involvement
OSAKA —
The Osaka municipal government has been screening the emails of civil servants in an attempt to find evidence of union activities and political affiliation among them, sparking a backlash from city employees and legal experts, it was revealed this week.
The Osaka government, headed by Mayor Toru Hashimoto, began storing in its servers emails sent and received by around 23,400 employees without their knowledge. It is thought that the city’s servers contain around 40 megabytes per employee, which could constitute hundreds of email messages, TV Asahi reported.
Some legal experts have claimed that storing city employees’ email without their consent or knowledge is a step too far, some going so far as to describe it as unconstitutional.
The revelation comes days after the city government came under fire for distributing a questionnaire to its employees over their political and union activities between Feb 9 and 16. The survey, which included questions about employees’ off-duty activities, beliefs and creed, was attacked by bar associations and the city’s labor union federation, TV Asahi reported.
Osaka prefectural labor relations committee began an investigation into whether the questionnaire constituted unfair labor practice, at which point it was announced that distribution of the survey would be suspended.
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-1
NetNinja
OH MY!!! Hashimoto is planning to rule with an iron fist. This guy would destroy every human right possible if he could. A right to privacy, religious beliefs and even political opinion. I guess if you aren't part of his political party you're about to be fired.
Talk about power harassment. I can see the lawsuits coming already. I'm sure he has a crack team looking into Facebook, Mixi and Twitter accounts looking anything and everything that his party doesn't agree with.
-9
some14some
perhaps a necessary evil to bring democratic values to this country.
0
m5c32
Many companies have filtering on their email systems. If you are dealing with personal and or sensitive information you would prefer to remain private, don't use company resources for your undertakings. Use services like hushmail, countermail or even gmail (at lest they would need cooperation from the courts).
Huh? What the... were they still using POP3?
What the... I thought all people DID was write emails and documents ALL day. 4 gigabytes would be more the norm. It's not as thought they would use drop box to share documents. I'm pretty sure most people "share" documents via email.
What? Storing emails on servers is illegal? In what planet? How do you keep records of communication? Oh, I see. When something <bad> happens, you don't want any evidence to be there for those times. Gotcha, good thinking. Maybe forget to take meeting minutes too when discussing health risks and other unpleasant topics.
I hate unions as much as the next guy and lass, but this is harassment and comes close to political persecution.
4
andrewfx51
I don't have a problem with employers having access to employee mail, assuming that private mail remains just that - private.
seems to violate articles 14 and 28 of the constitution of Japan. Surely a tv lawyer (Hashimoto) would know that.
@some14some
I don't understand
10
lucabrasi
Speak for yourself, Buddy. Without unions this type of managerial malpractice would be normal and you'd be locked up for expressing your opinions above.
0
Cricky
So much for freedom of expression, religious belief and privacy outside the work place. If they were scanning for child porn as an example I would support that although as possession isn't illegal that's a bad example. When you need support in the work place a union is indispensable, less people would be being shafted if more stood together against illegal work practices. But must not upset the hive.
1
Gurukun
I agree with andrew. Isn't Hashimoto a lawyer? You would think he knew basic stuff like this was an invasion of privacy.
-5
m5c32
Unions are anachronistic and outdated in the new economy. They served their purpose when the economy meant manufacturing and arduous labor. Younger people don't seek to work for one or two places their whole lives. People want flexibility; they want freedom. What is needed are progressive laws governing labor and an effective labor grievances board. Unions only care about their own self preservation; the workers are incidental. A means to their existence, as it were.
No, I know they did lots of good in the past. But that's all unions live in is the past. They have not progressed and transformed to meet the new demands and the new emergent economy. This is why unionization is at, what 18-20%?
0
gogogo
Wow what country is this? After reading this it sounds like China... I can't believe they don't want to allow a union to start... so so so bad management. People need to be fired over this.
1
combinibento
This cannot be constitutional, provided that "evidence of union activities and political affiliation" is not illegal. Mr. Sato uses his work email account to invite his friend to a ball game. He goes unpunished. Mr. Tanaka uses his email account to invite his friend to a union meeting. He gets reprimanded. See the problem here?
1
lucabrasi
@m5c32
Point taken. However, if unions are genuinely irrelevant under the current system, then why the need to check up on whether folk are involved with them or not?
1
TorafusuTorasan
If Hashimoto is the ideological counterpart of Wisconsin's governor Scott Walker, then is there a Japanese equivalent of Walker's main backer David Koch (who recently gave an interview about his $700,000 payments to Wisconsin politicians)? I find it hard to believe that everything is dreamed up by Hashimoto without at least one powerful person or group behind the Isshin no Kai giving "input" of a financial or intellectual nature.
Even LDP leaders like Ishihara's son are steering clear of Hashimoto's most recent ideas, such as getting rid of the House of Councillors (National Parliament's Upper House). Even if it is a decent idea, how Hashimoto expects any current politicians to get in line to support the elimination of their legislative workplace is anybody's guess. Maybe what some14some means is that--when faced with the reduction of political representation--more voters will begin to get involved supporting elections and the leaders that the majority elected. On the other hand, they may democtratically choose to throw the bums out and shutter the place permanently, similar to the way America's largest tribal government (Navajo) was forced by voters into a drastic reduction of reps a couple of years ago. Is that close, some14some?
-1
Hide Suzuki
An employer has a right to check their employees' emails without their consent, it has been ruled legal, in Japan or America.
You guys complain about typical Japanese poiticians who do nothing and now finally we have a politician who can make changes and still complain. What do you want reallky ? If you want a leader who will make changes, then you are not gonna like everything he does.
Hashimoto is the only guy who can change Japan right now even if you don't agree with everything he does.
1
Hide Suzuki
And some of you guys who brought up freedon of expression or right of privacy, they are only checking their business emails !!!!!!
The city employees can do whatever they want using their private emails or create whatever arts they want on weekends, just don't spend normal business hours or the city resources on the union meeting etc.
The Osaka city employees are supposed to server Osaka city residents first, but until now they were looking out for themselves, which Hashimoto is trying to change.
3
Elvensilvan
The government or company has every right to check mails specially when something funny's underfoot.
-3
gogogo
A discussion of working conditions is perfectly fine. They are obviously not happy with their currently working conditions. I would love to hear the reasons why they feel the need to start the union.
0
warnerbro
Questions about off hours? Things are going to get quite nasty in Osaka. The question becomes does anyone at the national level have the cojones to stop him? Ishihara has ravaged Tokyo with his raving senility and cronyism but Japan's supposedly literate and sophisticated electorate is quite weak-kneed in the face of demagogues and local potentates whose job is merely to bring home the sushi. Hashimoto is much younger and all he needs is convenient strawmen that everybody hates and the keys to the realm are his. Do his supporters think he will stop at public servants? He's claimed death threats. He can use the police to cast quite a wide surveillance net in response.
1
Darren Brannan
First it was demanding osaka workers sign a survey regarding their political activities and now this. Fashimoto will stretch his neck out too far soon.
0
thepro
Hashimoto is a huge fascist
0
gyouza
Assuming the email system is for Osaka prefectural business, then surely the mails SHOULD be stored.
I sense the unions beginning a fight by leaking stories like this one on email (will reserve judgement on the survey, don't know about that yet) is most likely their way of trying to make Hashimoto worse than he might be for them.
0
JapanGal
Um just saying, but one email might be 2kb if it is long. 40 megabytes if email would be volumes of encyclopedias. Maybe people are sending massive amounts of pictures on their work mail.
-1
combinibento
Fine to look at emails. Well within their rights. That's why I never, ever use company mail for private correspondence. But the government cannot vary its treatment or policies based on substantive content of speech. They can deny a protest permit for any variety of legitimate reasons (too many people planned in a small space, too much noise expected), but the subject matter of the protest is not a legitimate reason. Same with this email. Any violation, whether related to unions or not, of the system should be treated equally.
1
Hide Suzuki
@gogogo
"I would love to hear the reasons why they feel the need to start the union."
What are you talking about ? Their already have a union, as they have had for decades. They are not stating one now.
The Osaka city bus drivers make over 8,000,000 although the entire bus division have been losing money for 28 years. Hashimoto is trying to reduce their salaries, do you have any problem with that ?
-1
minello7
I have red this article a number of times,just to see if I missed something,and all the comments,all with a valid point. Yes Hashimoto is a lawyer and I don't believe for one minutes he would set out to hang himself after just getting the job. Tread on lots of toes and upset some people though, that I believe. We know he has people that don't like him. So do we believe all that the media feeds us , I don't think so . As been pointed out, mail filtering is not new ,most big corporations do it, and the employees know this.while using emails for business. Unions yes I agree they were needed in the past, but rightly pointed out they haven't changed with the times and now its just jobs for the boys, but they don't have the power or the respect any more. Civil servants email ?? they need monitoring,they are worse than the , and you must remember most don't like Hashimoto. So what it boils down to is the questionnaire. Most employee information is on file already and updated on regular basis, so why the questionnaire ???? But here even I draw the line ,as much as I've praised Hashimoto on the pages , if I had received that questionnaire, it would only have had one use,and we know what that is.
0
hs992326
Amazing how ignorant some of you posters are. You guys are talking as if the city employees are victims. They don't get fired, they make way more than employees at private companies, their emplor will never go out og business. What more can they ask for ?
@gogogo They are not trying to start a union now, they already have one.
0
minello7
should read worse than the politicians,my apologies
0
tmarie
You guys complain about typical Japanese poiticians who do nothing and now finally we have a politician who can make changes and still complain
Changes indeed. Cutting education budgets, firing teachers for not singing kimigayo, getting rid of unions, ruling with an iron fist and offing anyone who doesn't agree with him and his agenda. That's the Japan you want, fine. Not the Japan I want.
Look, public servants shouldn't be sending personal emails during work time and shouldn't be using their job email for such things. However, storing their emails, violating their privacy and holding their beliefs over their heads and making it seem they'll get in trouble for doing things dear leader doesn't agree with is frightening.
I stated MONTHS ago that the public would wisen up with him and well, seems they are. Get rid of him NOW before he fires and makes everyone against him powerless.
-2
gogogo
@hs992326: The article doesn't say they already have one, it reads like they are trying to start one, even the title says "Osaka gov't workers' emails screened for evidence of union".
-2
tmarie
Also, what these workers do during their free time, as long as it is legal, is no business of Hashimoto. As a lawyer, he should know this. However, I think he's set on scaring his opponents more than thinking of the law.
0
cleo
Some of the emails I send/receive for work have files attached that can be 5 or 10 Mb. 40Mb isn't necessarily all that much.
-1
Hide Suzuki
@gogogo
Google or wikipedia it and you will see that they already have a union.
@tmarie
"the public would wisen up with him and well, seems they are" No, most Japanese people support Hashimoto, that's why he won the election. The union people are the ones who are against him because Hashimoto is trying to get rid of their benefit, salaries.
The city of Osaka is losing money, being the easiest city to get welfare from, corruption, "double bureaucracy" with Osaka-fu. Hashimoto is trying make Osaka citi government more efficient. Not sure why some of you guys are complaining.
-2
gogogo
@Hide Suzuki: I shouldn't have to google it, the article should be written better in the first place to make it clear.
-4
Hide Suzuki
@tmaie
You should know that now the police is also investigating their union as they supposedly spent hundreds of hours on union meeting before the election. Again, they are supposed to server the Osaka residents but they were spending more of their time campainging for their previous city mayor, knowing that Hashimoto would try to make the city government more efficient (meaning their salary would get reduced).
If they had so much free time, then they should get laid off, and they seem to have lots of free time
-1
tmarie
**No, most Japanese people support Hashimoto, that's why he won the election. The union people are the ones who are against him because Hashimoto is trying to get rid of their benefit, salaries.
The city of Osaka is losing money, being the easiest city to get welfare from, corruption, "double bureaucracy" with Osaka-fu. Hashimoto is trying make Osaka citi government more efficient. Not sure why some of you guys are complaining.**
A lot of people voted for him without knowing what he stands for. A lot of people voted for him because he was that lawyer that was on TV years ago. Now that the mask and gloves have come off, a lot of people are not happy with what he is trying to do.
By all means, clean up the corruption, cut the spending but do NOT bullying people and threaten their jobs implying because they don't agree with you. You don't spy on your workers - this isn't communist China though by the looks of it, if he gets his way it will.
And if he wants to make cuts, he should've cut those big fat bonuses some of the people in his office got a few months ago!
3
rickyvee
drunk with power? the truest test of a man's integrity is to give him power.
-1
Yubaru
You guys complain about typical Japanese poiticians who do nothing and now finally we have a politician who can make changes and still complain. What do you want reallky ? If you want a leader who will make changes, then you are not gonna like everything he does.
Hashimoto is the only guy who can change Japan right now even if you don't agree with everything he does.
I have to agree. These people that are using work email addresses for personal or non-work related mails should be made aware of their transgressions. Work email should also be public property for public servants as well.
If you want to keep something private use a damn web based mail service like gmail which is readily accessible from their smart phones!
2
omicron
Why are they targeting people who want to join the Unions? All people in Japan knows about the bad economy but it doesnt mean they will be satisfied with terrbily low pay. no benefits and contractual jobs. Many people are complaining because of the new norm nowdays where everyone has no more benefits, work harder for less and don't complain. Go ahead with some people supporting this, the "iron fist" might hit you one day, but I hope not.
-5
It"S ME
omicron.
Maybe because the looked at overseas Unions and seen how they have had an impact on their economies. Remember Unions mostly try to benefit themselves and NOT the workers.
2
gyouza
@tmarie - I'm quite far from Osaka and can't see what is happening niside the walls at town hall, but as much of a dictator style Hashimoto appears to be, the unions are also playing a game with him. Remember he got elected on the basis that there was no real need to have an Osaka Prefecture government AND and an Osaka City government office too. He is basically going to reduce the workforce to reduce cost (i.e save taxpayers money) and the unions don't like it. They will try to discredit him in anyway they can, and sounds like they are making a good start!
0
tmarie
Gyouza, I have no problems with cutting people who aren't needed. What I have a problem is him cutting people based on their view of him. Get rid of those who don't work well regardless of their political beliefs and if they belong to a union or not. The writing on the wall is that if you are against him, you're gone. Regardless of how well you do your job. That is wrong. By all means, cut but don't base it one who is against him.
He's discrediting himself with this, he doesn't need help.
1
gyouza
I certainly don't disagree with that.
Would love to know more on the big picture, I can't tell who is bad right now, and lots of disinfirmation from both sides! FWIW, I don't think the union side is whiter than white.
0
tmarie
Oh I don't think so either but to ask people what they are doing during their free time is not his business. Glass houses and stones - I doubt all his emails are just work related. The bar doesn't like him as it is - and with good reason. If he continues with this, I am wondering if they will disbar him.
-2
choiwaruoyaji
I hope my workplace isn't screening my emails. The number of times I've used the email system to ask a fellow employee (very lovely lady) to join me for a drink after work...
One day she'll say yes.
-4
theResident
I am totally with m5c32 - Unions live in the past, they serve only themselves. They belong in the 1970's.
0
andrewfx51
This is the part I have a problem with. While employers have the right to screen work emails, I hope that they are benevolent in their practices. Using membership in any legal organisation as the basis for dismissal is illegal in Japan, and in most democratic nations.
@Hide Suzuki
The answer is privitisation. Bus driver jobs will be culled, services will suffer, fares will increase, and the corporation that takes over operations will benefit. But at least tax payers will get what they pay for.
-1
tmarie
Hashimoto is trying to reduce their salaries, do you have any problem with that ?
To answer, no, I don't. As long as Hashimoto looks at what his office makes, their ages, their pension contributions... You can't cut one and not the other. Thing is, he's cutting one and not the ones that are the biggest money wasters.
2
ubikwit
@Hide Suzuki
Public services traditionally have not been profit generating enterprises.
Public services, such as the postal service, are services that society as a whole has deemed to be essential, and therefore spends tax revenue to operate and maintain them, with concern being on accessibility and fairness, not profitability.
Moreover, Hashimoto's plan to restructure the city government along the lines of Tokyo is fraught with contradictions and problems, and doesn't pose a single solution to any problem.
The most disturbing aspect is probably the fact that by eliminating the centralized administration in which wards are administered by appointed civil servants to a system in which each ward is an independently governed entity means that civil servants will be replaced with politicians in the form of local elected representatives.
There is nothing to indicate that anything will be accomplished by such a move. I believe that the salaries paid to the civil servants are less than those paid to elected officials, for one thing, so all this talk about reducing waste is a smoke screen,
What's really going on is that Hashimoto and his crew of crony's have found a way to harness public discontent with a pernicious populism that, should the restructuring go through, might enable his party to take over the local administration of Osaka wards.
Yes, maybe Japanese Freemasons?
The Koch brothers are also the primary backer of the so-called "tea party"
And the tea party is the organization to which the Ishin-no-kai is most comparable.
-1
smithinjapan
Level of fascism up! Hashimoto is a 'celebrity lawyer' and with his riches can cut any objections down easily while doing what is constitutionally illegal, and considered no better than what governments like NK and China are doing.
Welcome to what you voted in, idiots.
2
Hide Suzuki
@andrewfx51
"Bus driver jobs will be culled, services will suffer, fares will increase, and the corporation that takes over operations will benefit"
Completely wrong. When they got rid of "Kokutetsu" (government owned and operated company) and JR took over their operation, the fares got lower, their service improved. By privatizing the business, the bus drivers would make what they are worth (defenitely less than 8,000,000 yen), they would assign two people for jobs that require two people instead of 4 like they do now, so they could lower the fares.
0
Hide Suzuki
@ubikwit
"Public services traditionally have not been profit generating enterprises"
I agree, so they should not make generous salaries on top of better than average benefits. They don't have to worry about losing their jobs or their employer going out of business. That's a big advantage that many of us don't have, they don't need salaries higher than employees at private companies
-1
Pruitt Igoe 72
I'm all for the governent in my country spying on citizens, especially anyone who isn't progressive like I am, but in Japan I think it is outrageous.
0
andrewfx51
@Hide Suzuki
I was hoping you wouldn't bring up JR - definately a success. I agree. I'm just very disappointed similar moves have not benefited citizens in my home country, so I wouldn't call my opinion completely wrong, just wrong in this context perhaps. I still believe that privatisation is an option for Osaka - perhaps along with the subway system. I'm just not as optimistic that it will be a success. I also never liked Hashimoto on 行列できる法律相談所 so I'm biased in that regard
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