Laid-off temporary worker wins full-time position

Japan Press Weekly

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Laid-off temporary worker wins full-time position

A laid-off temporary worker won a full-time position on May 29 after negotiating with the company he was working at. This was the first victory to be won by a temporary worker struggling against his dismissal since last year.

In November 2004, a staffing agency sent Yoshii Yasuo, a 42-year-old forklift truck operator, to the transportation company Tokai Logitem's distribution center in Osaka Prefecture.

The company used him as a temporary worker for more than three years, but did not offer him a full time position as required by law.

In March, Yoshii was given a notice that his contract would be terminated at the end of April. He immediately joined the All Japan Construction, Transport and General Worker's Union (Kenkoro) Osaka Prefectural branch and achieved a one month moratorium on the contract termination notice through negotiations with the company.

Accepting Yoshii's request, the Osaka Labor Bureau instructed the company to directly employ him based on the Worker Dispatch Law.

A Kenkoro official said that the company stated, "We apologize (for violating the law). We will correct the situation according to the labor bureau's instructions."

Yoshii said, "If I were alone, I would definitely have been dismissed long ago. Workers' unification was very effective."

However, he will face another problem. His salary will go down because the company adversely revised the pay scale for full-time employees.

Yoshii decided to demand wage increase through further negotiations.

- Akahata, June 1, 2009