Remembering what the company did two years ago, whereby a snap election was held when the union branch chair was away on holiday, and the employees had to mark their vote on a clipboard openly in front of a manager, the union members immediately notified all employees of the setting up of a committee to run the election, asking for volunteers, and wrested control of the election from the management into the hands of the employees (where it should be). The union branch chair nominated himself as candidate, and the election was run fairly by secret ballot. The branch chair won by an overwhelming majority. So what, you may ask The workers rep was needed to sign an overtime agreement, without which no overtime can be done in the school. The union chair requested a meeting with the management before signing, and told them that he had evidence of illegal contracts for some staff which alternated between 5 days (40 hours) and 6 days (48 hours). This means 16 hours of overtime completely unpaid per month. On top of that, a forced 48-hour week contract is illegal anyway by the Labour Standards Law. The company, having received guidance one year ago from the Labour Standards Office on the issue of overtime (after union branch members filed a complaint), quickly caved and promised to pay up the missing wages to past and present employees. After this is confirmed, the workers・rep will be more than happy to sign the overtime agreement. We hope the money will be a nice bonus for the staff who have worked so hard for their wages.