 JCP urges government to eliminate gender discrimination in places of work At the February 22 House of Representative Budget Committee meeting, Japanese Communist Party member Ishii Ikuko urged the government to make efforts to eliminate discrimination against women in workplaces. Citing an example at Sumitomo Metal Industries where women employees are pressured to retire when they get pregnant, Ishii stated that a manager told a pregnant woman that "dogs and cats can be better mothers than you." Nohno Chieko, Justice minister and state minister in charge of the problem of the declining birthrate, said, "I can't believe my ears. We must support women workers under the Equal Employment Opportunities Law." At Sumitomo Metal, women's average annual salary and retirement pay are 5 million yen and 13 million yen less respectively than that of male workers with the same education and the same length of service, despite the company's promise to make its places of work free of discrimination against women. Labor Minister Otsuji Hidehisa said, "We will correct such discrepancies whenever we discover them." (end) |