General Union

General Union

ゼネラルユニオン (zeneraru yunion)
Founded	June 1991; 33 years ago (1991-06)
Headquarters	Osaka
Location	Japan
Affiliations	National Trade Union Council (全労協), National Union of General Workers (全国一般全国協議会)
Website	www.generalunion.org

The General Union (ゼネラルユニオン, zeneraru yunion) is a labor union founded in 1991 and headquartered in Osaka, Japan. Membership is open to all nationalities and all workers. It has members working in trading companies, factories and restaurants but the majority of members are teachers and staff who are employed in language education at private conversation schools, high schools and universities in the Kansai and Chubu regions of Japan. Union members work at universities such as Ritsumeikan University, and language schools such as ECC, Berlitz and Gaba. Recent years have also seen the union launching major organizing drives among South American workers in Japan, along with Filipino workers.

As of the 2020 executive elections the union chair is Asari Toshiaki and general secretary is Dennis Tesolat who reverted to this position after six years as chair.

The General Union is under the umbrella of the National Union of General Workers, which is itself part of the National Trade Union Council (Zenrokyo) one of the three major trade union federations in Japan.