By Kristen Numata

AEON Corporation employees are ready to start 2023 with a bang! 

2022 was a busy year that saw an unprecedented surge in union activity among Aeon workers. Let’s take a look at the last year and see what has happened with General Union AEON-Amity Branch!

### How We Started ###

Established in 1973, AEON is one of the few eikaiwa that has never had strong presence with General Union. The acquisition of AEON by KDDI in 2018 was cause for concern for many workers, but it wasn’t until we started to see significant changes starting in 2021 that disgruntled workers felt the need for more active organization.

In the first quarter of 2022, union members pursued a combination of physical and virtual outreach. By the end of June, more than enough people joined General Union to establish the General Union Aeon Branch.

After creating a list of improvements we would like to see at work, we held our first-ever Collective Bargaining session with Aeon’s management in November. Finally, with Winter vacation looming ahead, Aeon Branch was renamed Aeon-Amity Branch and workers for both brands were brought closer together.

### Where We Are Headed ###

This year, are pushing ahead. Our priority is to achieve real, positive changes for workers at Aeon and to establish a strong relationship with the company. We also look forward to reaching out to even more of our coworkers and pushing for improvements in the entire industry. 

One way for us to do that is to petition companies for an inflation-relief bonus as part of General Union’s the Rise Above Inflation campaign.

Here’s to more progress in 2023!

If you are working with Aeon, Amity, or any other language teaching company, reach out to General Union for a consultation here.