Money from staffing firms goes to DPJ, LDP lawmakers

Japan Press Weekly

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

Money from staffing firms goes to DPJ, LDP lawmakers

A political wing of the temporary staffing industry has provided 6.7 million yen in political donations to Democratic, Liberal Democratic, and Komei Party Dietmembers, as revising the Worker Dispatch Law is on the agenda in the Diet.

The Democratic Party of Japan government submitted to the Diet a bill which has a lot of loopholes and the LDP is opposing the banning of the dispatch of workers to the manufacturing industry.

Both of these moves run counter to what the workers really demand and seem to be responses to the money donated by labor supply businesses.

The political league was established in June 2008 by 17 companies that provide labor to industrial makers and staffing service organizations. Alarmed at a possible stronger control with the law's revision, the league donated money and bought tickets for fund-raising gatherings of lawmakers who have influence over the law's revision.

The league states that the purposes of its activity include financial support for politicians to resolve various issues in the severe economic climate.

A leading temporary staffing agency company executive said, "The staffing industry is experiencing a sense of crisis with the possibility of the imposition of regulations as the working poor has become a social issue. This is why we had to set up our political wing to counter the demand for regulations."

Staffing companies have been objecting to a general ban on dispatching temps to the manufacturing sector and on dispatching on-call temps. These suppliers of temporary workers actually helped major manufacturers such as car and electrical makers to hire and dismiss temp workers as much and as often as they wanted to.

The bill to revise the Worker Dispatch Law that the DPJ government submitted to the Diet last March leaves room for the use of workers with short-term contracts, despite calling for a ban on the dispatch of non-regular workers to industrial manufacturers and on the dispatch of on-call contingent workers with short-term contracts. The DPJ is trying to shelve even this defective bill and the current extraordinary Diet session has not discussed it yet.

The LDP is arguing that regulation is an "anti-business" move that will obstruct an increase in corporate competitiveness and corporate cost cutting efforts.

- Akahata, December 2, 2010