More full-time jobs for young people!

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

More full-time jobs for young people!

Demanding that the government and the business circles increase regular employment opportunities for the youth, young people and teachers joining together in a national liaison council on September 14 filed petitions with ministries in Tokyo and held rallies in many places in Japan. A ban on the recruiting of high school students graduating next spring will be lifted on September 16.

In a rally held in Tokyo, National Federation of Private School Teachers and Staff Unions chair Tanimasa Hiroshi pointed out that contrary to most press reports the employment situation for graduating high school students has not been improved. In fact, the effective ratio of job offers to applicants is only 0.17 times in Aomori Prefecture - meaning only 17 jobs are offered for every 100 employment seekers --, and 0.24 in Kochi Prefecture.

Japan Senior High School Teachers and Staff Union Chair Okada Ainosuke said of the rally, "The difficulty in finding jobs for graduating high school students and other young people has largely caused the increase in the social gap and poverty."

A Young Contingent Workers' Union representative said, "We receive phone calls occasionally from young people who are unfamiliar with labor unions and labor laws. Once they come to realize that they have the right to talk with their employers on an equal footing, they change dramatically. They are making efforts to increase union members."

A Democratic Youth League of Japan representative said to Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare officials that many young people who have been working for several years earn only 1.5 million yen a year. She requested the ministry to take urgent measures to force corporations to treat contingent workers and full-time workers equally and to call on large corporations to increase full-time employees.

In the Hokkaido and Tohoku regions, a "caravan" campaign petitioned prefectural governments to secure employment for graduating high school students. In the Kansai area the liaison council petitioned the Kansai Economic Federation and held a rally in Osaka City.
- Akahata, September 15, 2006