Laid off temporary workers stage protest at Nippon Keidanren

Japan Press Weekly

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

Laid off temporary workers stage protest at Nippon Keidanren

"Stop the layoffs of temporary workers!" Laid-off temporary workers on February 25 staged a protest in front of Japan's most powerful business headquarters.

About 150 contingent workers, who had lost their jobs, assembled in front of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) building in Tokyo.

Young workers who recently established their own unions gave protest speeches.

A man said, "If we are forced to leave our dormitory, you should allow us to stay in the Nippon Keidanren building!"

Another said, "80-90 percent of homeless people in Tokyo are now said to be those who have just been forced out of their workplaces due to early terminations of contracts or the bankruptcy of their companies."

A 36-year-old man said that he had his contract with Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation terminated before its expiration date and that he had been told by the company to leave the dormitory by the end of this month. He said he has no money. He demanded that the employer give him a full-time regular position.

A 24-year-old man, who also received an early-termination of his contract with Nissan Diesel Motor late last year, said, "Management won't even agree to negotiate with the union."

A man in his 30s, who has been working eight years in a full-time regular position at a Honda Motor's subcontractor, said that he had received a dismissal notice ordering him to leave by the end of March. "How irresponsible it is for the company to tell its employees to give up their jobs just because of the economic downturn!" he added in anger.

Utsunomiya Kenji, a lawyer, speaking on behalf of the organizing committee of the Anti-Poverty Network, said, "Nippon Keidanren should tell its member companies to stop the unreasonable and/or illegal layoffs."

He called on these companies to fulfill their corporate social responsibility by using just a small portion of their internal reserves to maintain jobs and ptotect the livelihoods of workers and their families."

- Akahata, February 26, 2009