Union Protests Lecturer's Treatment

AN OSAKA LABOR union issued a formal protest against Kansai University on Friday for discriminatory treatment of a foreign lecturer.
According to a document submitted by the Education Workers and Amalgamated Union Osaka to a labor standards inspection office, the university, based in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, employed David Agnew, a 36-year-old Canadian, as a special foreign language lecturer in April 1999.
Under his contract, the limit of his tenure is three years, which may involve up to two renewals. However, special lecturers of Japanese nationality are not subject to such restrictions.
Agnew asked the university to eliminate the restriction, but it refused to do so, the union said, adding the university is violating the labor standards law by treating him differently from Japanese because of his nationality.
Agnew returned to Canada in April after his contract expired, the union said. An official of the university said, “We believe that our office regulations for special foreign language lecturers do not violate the labor standards law.”