Instead, teachers with families were offered accommodation in what had originally been student dormitory in a space designed for eight students. There were no baths in the dormitory, and at least one of the families had young children.

The apartments were so large that teachers complained it would have cost them a fortune to heat them in the winter.

Despite the fact that the accommodation was completely unsuitable for families, the teachers were told that they had no choice but to accept the accommodation.

To add insult to injury, despite the fact that the accommodation was a bus ride away from where the teachers were scheduled to teach, they were initially told that there would be no travel expenses paid.

While the teachers were eventually offered more suitable apartments and received travel expenses after General Union intervention, what should have been a simple matter ended up being an unnecessarily stressful experience for the teachers concerned and their families, involving numerous discussions with representatives of the personnel department.

Another issue was that teachers were told they would be scheduled to teach classes at both the Nakamiya and Gotenyama campuses. According to the university this would give them a chance to experience teaching at the new campus.

There is a fifteen minute walk between campuses, which could have been particularly problematic if they were scheduled to teach at different campuses directly before and after lunch.

What further angered teachers was that many of them had contracts that specifically mentioned that they would teach at only one campus.

Once again though, the problem was resolved peaceful after the union submitted demands asking the university to respect teachers’ contracts.

After successfully resolving these issues, the next aim of the Kansai Gaidai branch is to win secure employment for all sectors of workers on limited term contracts.