Working women discuss sexual discrimination and other workplace problems

At the 48th Central Assembly of Working Women held from November 22 to 23 in Tokyo, discussions brought out the widening wage gap between men and women as well as increasing unstable employment.

A non-regular nurse spoke about her struggle in her hospital to end wage discrimination against non-regular employees who do the same work as regular workers. She joined with other non-regular workers to establish a union, and achieved a wage increase to 80 percent from the present 30 percent of regular workers. "In order to defend our rights, it is necessary to speak up and unite," she said.

Organizing Committee Secretary-general Nakajima Haruyo, who is also the Women's Department head of the National Federation of Trade Unions (Zenroren), called for further struggle to protect the rights of women workers, stressing that most of them are working unstable jobs.

Ishikawa Yasuhiro, a professor at Kobe College, in his lecture pointed out that discrimination against women in the workplace is business circles' strategy to keep women as housewives responsible for the maintenance of "corporate warriors." (end)