JCP proposes amendment to the bill to revise Worker Dispatch Law

Japan Press Weekly

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

JCP proposes amendment to the bill to revise Worker Dispatch Law

The Japanese Communist Party on March 3 proposed an amendment to a bill to revise the Worker Dispatch Law under the slogan, “Pave the way for temporary workers to become full-time workers and change the law to protect the rights of temporary workers!”

JCP Chair Shii Kazuo at a news conference said, “From the point of view that full-time employment is essential, it is required that the Worker Dispatch Law be revised drastically based on the principles that the use of temporary workers must be limited to temporary jobs and that the use of temporary workers must not be a substitute for employment of full-time workers.”

Shii also pointed out, “There are two huge loopholes in the government bill that allow employers to use temporary workers as disposable labor under unstable and harsh working conditions.”

One loophole is that although the government bill bans the use of temporary workers in the manufacturing sector in principle, temporary workers who are employed by a staffing agency are exempted from the ban. Another loophole is that although the government bill calls for a ban on the use of on-call temporary workers, companies might be allowed to use them to work in “26 special job categories.”

The JCP proposal calls for a restriction on use of temporary workers in the manufacturing sector without exception because among 560,000 temporary workers in that sector, 63% of them are hired by staffing agencies.

Under the existing Worker Dispatch Law, employers are prohibited from using temporary workers for more than three years, but in the “26 specialist fields”, companies can use temporary workers beyond the legal term. These “26 categories”, however, include jobs that do not need any extensive special knowledge and skills such as clerical work, including typing and filing. If the government leaves these categories unchanged, companies will have a means to use temporary workers by skirting around the law.

Pointing out that the government plans to postpone implementing the restriction on the use of temporary workers in the manufacturing industry and the use of on-call temporary workers for three years, the JCP is calling for an immediate implementation of the restriction.

In order to make the government bill more effective in protecting temporary workers, the JCP also proposes that the bill allow staffing agencies to send temporary workers only if they are employed by these agencies without fixed terms, and should clearly state that temporary workers be treated equally as full-time workers at the receiving company.

Shii explained that the JCP opposed the introduction of the Worker Dispatch Law and the 1999 adverse revision of the law that fundamentally eased regulations on the use of temporary workers. Together with workers throughout the country, the JCP has called for a drastic revision of the law. “In collaboration with workers’ movements and struggles, we will make the utmost effort to push the government and other political parties to make the existing law efficient,” he added.

- Akahata, March 4, 2010