Bereaved families call for law to prevent ‘karoshi’

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Bereaved families call for law to prevent ‘karoshi’

About 150 people who lost family member from overwork (karoshi) held a rally on October 13 demanding the establishment of a basic law to prevent karoshi at the House of Representatives Dietmembers’ office building.

Kawahito Hiroshi, representative of a lawyers’ group tackling the issue of karoshi, pointed out that the current Labor Standards Law allows employers to force workers to work overtime for more than 150 hours a month by concluding a labor-management agreement, and said, “Compared to other developed countries which have laws to strictly regulate overtime, Japan’s current situation is a carry-over from the past. Legal regulations regarding excessive working hours are necessary.”

A family member whose son had committed suicide when working at a major IT company as system engineer said, “Our son suffered from depression as a result of excessive long working hours and heavy workloads. He sometimes worked all night, came home the next morning only for 30 minutes, went back to his office, and worked till 10 p.m.”

Japanese Communist Party Upper and Lower House members, Tamura Tomoko and Takahashi Chizuko, as well as Dietmembers of the Democratic Party of Japan attended the rally.

- Akahata, October 14, 2010