JCP chair urges prime minister to take measures against violation of
workers' human rights

During the past six months in office, the Koizumi Cabinet has actually
neglected extraordinary human rights violations in the workplace, and this
has in fact pushed up the unemployment rate to a record 5.3 percent.

This is what Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo stated in a
one-on-one debate with Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro on November 21, the
first in five months.

Referring to the recent serious unemployment rate and related job
insecurity, Shii urged Koizumi to implement two recommendations by the U.N.
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which call on Japan to
take: (1) legislative and administrative steps to reduce working hours, and
(2) measures to maintain and secure a certain wage level paid to workers
at/over 50 years old.

Shii asked Koizumi if the Japanese government intends to take steps in
accordance with the U.N. recommendations based on the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights and the Optional Protocol which Japan
ratified.

Prime Minister Koizumi in reply said that the government will continue
efforts to implement the recommendations, while defending himself by saying
that he has made efforts for reducing yearly working hours.

Pointing out that average working hours has been increased, falling short
of the government goal of achieving less than 1,800 yearly working hours,
Shii stressed that Japan's government must fully accept the recommendations
because they are based on adverse changes in Japan.

Then Shii took up the issue of a massive personnel reduction plan pursued
by NTT Corporation, Japan's biggest telecommunication company. The plan
requires the whole of the 110,000 NTT workers to be dismissed simultaneously
and part of them recomposed on condition that their wages will be cut by 20
percent or 30 percent. These are the very points that the U.N. committee
recommends to correct, Shii said.

The largest NTT shareholder is the government. NTT enjoys 700 billion yen
yearly profits at the term ending in March 2001. For such a mammoth company
to launch severe inhumane attacks on the workers means to neglect the U.N.
recommendations. The government must stop this action before it extends to
other companies.

Prime Minister Koizumi just stated that he wants both the management and
workers to consult on it, actually neglecting the U.N. recommendations.

JCP Shii maintained that even if a management-worker agreement accepts a
dismissal plan, human rights should not be undermined. There is no future
for any companies, the economy, or government if they renege on human
rights, Shii stated. (end)