Workers call for wage hike at labor ministry

Japan Press Weekly

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

Workers call for wage hike at labor ministry

The 2010 Spring Struggle campaign kicked off on January 19.

“End the recession by increasing our wages!” “Pass internal reserves of large corporations to us!” “Revise the Worker Dispatch Law!” and “Set a minimum wage of 1,000 yen/hour or more!” These were the main demands that about 500 workers chanted in front of the labor ministry.

Ito Jun’ichi started his speech on behalf of the organizers of this action by saying, “We are experiencing a serious economic recession with domestic demand shrinking,” and he called for a drastic revision of the Worker Dispatch Law and an increase in the minimum wage.

Odagawa Yoshikazu of the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) stated that in the 2010 Spring Struggle workers will call for stable job security to achieve improvement in working conditions, a drastic revision of the Worker Dispatch Law, an increase in the minimum wage to 1,000 yen/hour to expand domestic demand, and improvement of social welfare services.

- Akahata, January 20, 2010