JCP urges major manufacturer to stop illegal use of workers

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JCP urges major manufacturer to stop illegal use of workers

Japanese Communist Party representatives led by Lower House member Yoshii Hidekatsu on October 4 made representations to Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (MEI), urging it to refrain from practicing illegal "disguised contract work" to use workers dispatched by outside contractors as if factories outsource specific operations.

The JCP team visited a MEI-affiliated Matsushita Plasma Display Panel (MPDP) plant in Amagasaki City in Hyogo Prefecture.

Executives of MEI and MPDP said that MPDP at its three plants in Amagasaki City is using about 800 temporary workers mostly staffed by Collaborate Co. and three other contractors, in addition to about 300 full-time employees.

Collaborate was ordered on October 3 by the Osaka Labor Bureau to suspend its businesses because of its illegal dispatch of workers to manufacturing factories.

In July 2005, the Osaka Labor Bureau instructed MPDP to redress its practice of "disguised contract work" at its plant in Ibaraki City in Osaka Prefecture. The plant was leasing workers from a predecessor of Collaborate.

The JCP team also visited the Hyogo Labor Bureau and requested it to increase its efforts to eradicate the illegal corporate practice. A bureau official promised that it will instruct companies to strictly comply with laws and conduct on-site inspections.
- Akahata, October 5, 2006