 Young people hold a national rally for decent jobs and working conditions About 1,400 young people held a national rally on December 12 in Tokyo calling for more jobs to be created for young people and for rules to be established for decent working conditions. The rally was organized by the Democratic Youth League of Japan and the youth divisions of the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren), the Newspaper Workers' Union (Shinbunroren), and the National Federation of Traders and Producers Organizations (Zenshoren). Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo in his speech said,"There are two aberrant labor practices in Japan: one is the big gap between regular and non-regular workers in terms of working conditions, which is rare in Europe, and the other is inadequate government funding for helping young people to find jobs. The government is responsible for solving this problem," he said. Next day, 80 of the rally participants visited Dietmembers requesting them to press the government to act to end excessively long working hours and stop forcing workers to work overtime without pay, increase employment opportunities for young people, and treat part-time and temporary workers equally with full-time workers. Prior to the rally, the participants held workshop discussions on four themes including "politics and society" (which is making it more difficult for young people to find jobs) and "complaints in the workplace." (end) |