Hyogo labor bureau urges Nippon Thompson to offer direct employment to temporary workers

Japan Press Weekly

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Hyogo labor bureau urges Nippon Thompson to offer direct employment to temporary workers

Akahata has learned that the Hyogo Labor Bureau on March 24 directed Nippon Thompson Co., Ltd., a needle roller bearing manufacturer, to offer temporary workers direct employment.

The Nippon Thompson Himeji plant used 13 temporary workers for more than five years, including periods of work as "disguised independent contractors", in order to use the temporary workers for a longer period than the legal maximum of three years.

Nippon Thompson, however, decided to terminate their contracts, and their staffing agency Premier-Line Inc. gave them dismissal notices at the end of March.

The 13 workers established their own union affiliated with the All-Japan Metal and Information Machinery Workers' Union (JMIU) and requested the Hyogo Labor Bureau to issue a directive for Nippon Thompson to offer direct employment to them.

The Hyogo Labor Bureau recognized that the way in which the company used the temporary workers was in violation of the Worker Dispatch Law and the Employment Security Act, and urged Nippon Thompson and Premier-Line to discuss ways to secure the temporary workers' jobs and correct the situation within a month because dismissing workers at the end of March is unacceptable.

The JMIU Hyogo Prefectural Office and its Nippon Thompson branch held a news conference on the same day and stated, "Regarding the directive, the Hyogo Labor Bureau explained that the dismissal at the end of March is unacceptable and the employment should be secured."

JMIU Nippon Thompson Branch chair Maeo Yoshiharu said, "After making the request, the directive to correct the situation was issued within such a short period of one month, before the date of dismissal. This is important. With this achievement, we urge our staffing agency to revoke our dismissals and Nippon Thompson to provide us with full-time positions."

- Akahata, March 25, 2009