Summary: Kyoto ALTs working for ALTIA CENTRAL have won full backpay and the restoration of salaries cut from ¥240,000 to ¥210,000, following months of negotiations and strike action that drew national attention. Monthly pay has been returned to ¥240,000 and bonuses increased to ¥120,000, marking a major victory for collective bargaining. While core pay demands have been met, ALTs continue to campaign for reimbursement of health check costs, a higher transportation allowance cap, and contracts that run through March 31 to prevent insurance and pension gaps. They are also seeking direct employment by the Kyoto Prefecture Board of Education instead of dispatch arrangements. The outcome highlights the power of worker organization at General Union and encourages ALTs nationwide to unite to improve their working conditions.

After more than six months of negotiations, a strike covered in national media, including Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun, and an outpouring of support from people across Japan and around the world, ALTs in Kyoto Prefecture working for ALTIA CENTRAL have secured full backpay following their earlier historic pay rise victory.

Kyoto ALTs’ monthly salaries had dropped from 240,000 yen in 2023–2024 to 210,000 yen in 2025–2026. Through collective bargaining, those cuts have now been reversed: salaries restored to 240,000 yen, and bonuses raised to 120,000 yen.

While still below JET-level compensation, this victory sends a strong nationwide message: working conditions improve when ALTs organize and act collectively.

The fight isn’t over. Three demands remain:

1. Reimburse required health checks for ALTs who were already employed at the time they were conducted.
2. Raise the 16,500 yen monthly transportation reimbursement cap.
3. Extend contracts to March 31st, to prefect gaps in health insurance and pension and pension coverage.

Kyoto ALTs are also continuing their fight to be directly employed by the Kyoto Prefecture Board of Education, as is already the case in Kyoto City, Hirakata City, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, Sakai City, and many other places in Kansai.

But the core demands of restoring ALTs’ salaries and bonuses to their original levels have been met. That’s certainly worth celebrating! Please share the news far and wide.

Here’s what we’ve learned – and what comes next: 

• If you’re a dispatch ALT struggling with poor working conditions: You aren’t alone, and now we know how to win. Organize the other ALTs in your area. Keep in touch and discuss your problems. Join the General Union. When you’re ready, begin collective bargaining. Conditions improve when workers act together. This victory is proof.

• If you’re a JET Program worker considering continuing as an ALT: Keep in contact with the ALTs in your area, even if you move away. Make sure to meet and organize with the ALTs in your next workplace. Be prepared for a pay cut, but don’t just accept poor conditions as a matter of course. And remember: JETs can join the General Union, too.

• If you’re working for a Board of Education that uses dispatch ALTs: Ask yourself, do you know how much your ALTs are paid? Are they satisfied? Or is there high turnover, many mid-year replacements? Consider longer contracts, salary minimums, and stricter evaluations for dispatch companies. Better yet, directly hire your ALTs! It’s cheaper and makes a positive impact on students and teachers.

• If you’re working for a dispatch company: Don’t cut salaries to increase profits. Invest in your educators instead. Higher salaries attract stronger teachers. Stronger teachers build better relationships with schools, and help win repeated contracts. ALTs are human beings, not cells on a spreadsheet.

• If you’re none of those but want to learn more: Last year, one Kyoto ALT released a fifteen-minute story game offering a first-person view of the pressures dispatch ALTs face — falling salaries, contract renewal crises, and the instability that makes work and life more difficult. Try the game, then read this page for more: Protect your children’s English education

We cannot allow ALT working conditions to continue declining. The victory in Kyoto is significant — but the work continues. Across the country, more victories can be won when workers unite and communities stand with them.