JCP proposes the bill for revision of the Worker Dispatch Law

Japan Press Weekly

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JCP proposes the bill for revision of the Worker Dispatch Law

The Japanese Communist Party on April 10 published a bill to revise the Worker Dispatch Law into a Law to Protect Temporary Workers.

JCP Chair Shii Kazui announced the proposal at a news conference on April 10 in the Diet.

The bill is based on the demands for revision of the Worker Dispatch Law published by the JCP in December 2007.

Shii said, “If we do nothing about employers treating workers as disposable units without respecting their human dignity, there will be no bright future either for workers or for Japan’s economy and society on the whole.”

There are two basic elements involved in the bill: a drastic revision of the Worker Dispatch Law into a “Law to Protect Temporary Workers”, and the establishment of the principle that the use of temporary workers should be restricted only to temporary needs and that temporary workers must not be used as substitutes for full-time workers.

The bill includes the following provisions:

- Temporary workers must in principle be employed by staffing agencies and prohibits the use of temporary workers for day labor;

- The duration of the use of temporary workers must not exceed 12 months; that temporary workers will be offered direct employment in case of illegal labor practices;

- Companies must give temporary workers equal treatment; that the termination of labor contracts before expiry will be strictly prohibited; that unfair pay cuts will be banned;

- The Labor Standards Law will be revised to impose restrictions on the use of fixed-term employees.

Shii said, “We will call on other parties, organizations, and individuals to join forces to revise the Worker Dispatch Law.”

- Akahata, April 11, 2008