136 unions established in last 4 months

Japan Press Weekly

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

136 unions established in last 4 months

Temporary workers, including those who were laid off, are joining existing unions or organizing their own unions in many parts of the country to struggle to win full-time regular positions, demand that their dismissals be revoked, and file complaints about employers' illegal labor practices with the labor ministry's local labor bureaus.

Since November last year, 136 labor unions have been established and about 1,600 workers have joined unions. In the last 30 days up to March 14, 120 unions presented 29 cases of illegal uses of temporary workers to the labor bureaus.

Those unions have been organized at major Japanese companies, including Canon Inc., Isuzu Motor Ltd., and Panasonic Co., and more unions are expected to be organized at other companies.

In many cases, unionized workers collectively file complaints with the labor bureaus in regard to the illegal use of temporary workers, as was the case with a group of 21 workers who requested the Labor Bureau to order Sony Nagasaki Corp. to revoke their illegal dismissals.

Although the law requires employers to offer temporary workers full-time positions after three years of work, many of them continue to work as temporary workers for more than three years.

The National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) states that in order to put an end to illegal lay offs or give temporary workers full-time regular positions, it is most effective to take action in March, the final month of the fiscal year in Japan, before employers announce layoffs of contingent workers.

The Japanese Communist Party has so far provided livelihood, labor, and health consultations in addition to helping workers file their labor complaints with the Labor Bureau in cooperation with Zenroren, a wide variety of democratic organizations, and law firms.

In the Diet, the JCP has called for strict compliance with the law, and succeeded in pressuring the labor minister to concede that the legal period of three years includes the "cooling-off" period of one or two weeks between contracts, which many employers use to evade the law.

-- Akahata, March 16, 2009