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Japan Press Weekly

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

64% of temporary workers at Japan Post earn less than 2 million yen a year

About 64% of the total of 172,316 temporary workers at Japan Post Holdings Co. and its four subsidiaries earn less than two million yen a year.

This was revealed by the Japan Post’s answer to the question by Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Yamashita Yoshiki.

Under the government postal privatization policy, Japan Post Holdings Co. was established with four subsidiaries, and 100% of its shares are state-owned. The point is that such a company creates a large number of ‘working poor’. In this regard, the postal privatization policy should be revised.

Among temporary workers at Japan Post and its subsidiaries, 63.7% or 110,315 of them earned less than two million yen in 2008. Only 36% or 62,001 temporary workers earned more than two million yen.

For the two years since Japan Post Holdings was established in 2007, in order to reduce personnel costs, the company replaced 6,000 full-time workers with 15,000 temporary workers. Within the Japan Post Group, Japan Post Service employs the largest number of temporary workers (155,612).

Most of the temporary workers do the same basic job as full-time workers, but they are put under worse working conditions with low wages and unstable employment contracts. Some of them have two or more jobs just to make ends meet.

Postal workers unions, including the Postal Industry Workers’ Union (Yusanro) affiliated with the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren), waged struggles demanding the redress of contingent workers’ working conditions and the awarding of full-time positions to temporary workers.

Yamashita stated, “Such harsh working conditions at public services are a serious matter not only for the workers themselves but also for the postal services overall. In the demand for revision of the postal privatization policy, in addition to improvement of postal services, I call on the government and Japan Post to improve temporary workers’ working conditions, including providing full-time positions and equal treatment.”

- Akahata, December 24, 2009