TOKYO -- Three part-time lecturers at J. F. Oberlin University in the suburban Tokyo city of Machida staged a walkout and cut their classes short on Dec. 9 after their demand for a base salary increase was not met.

According to an education institution workers' union supporting the strike, it is unusual for university staff to walk off the job to demand base wage increase. The part-time lecturers who initiated the strike belong to the union's "Obirin branch."

There hasn't been any base salary increase for part-time teachers at the university since 2006, according to the Obirin branch. The organization added that, although class hours were extended from 90 to 100 minutes starting in the 2019 academic year, part-time teachers were only paid for the extra time in that academic year, resulting in a de facto wage cut ever since.

The part-time lecturers demanded a 15% base pay increase, but decided to go on strike after not receiving a satisfactory response from the university.

The three part-time teachers cut each of their classes short by 15 minutes. They held up banners near the university campus reading "Strike in Progress." Kazumi Tsuchida, a representative of the union's Obirin branch, said, "The university had a surplus of 400 million yen (about $2.64 million) in its current account balance for the 2023 academic year. It is unjust (for the university) to refuse to raise wages claiming it would have to raise tuition fees among other reasons."

(Japanese original by Nanako Hori, Lifestyle, Science & Environment News Department)