May 17, 2016
In front of a public job placement office in Kumamoto City, Hello Work Kumamoto, people are standing in queues from early morning every day. They are workers who were dismissed or forced to take leave in the aftermath of the major earthquakes in mid-April.
A 35-year-old mother bringing up three children said, “I was set to begin to work for a company cleaning a local hospital on April 15. But the hospital was crippled by the quakes and I lost that job opportunity. I have to find another job as soon as possible as my family budget is very tight.”
As of May 13, the number of labor counseling requests which were made to public employment offices and labor standards inspection offices in Kumamoto Prefecture has exceeded 11,000. Of them, 211 are related to dismissals.
A 25-year-old woman living in Kumamoto City said that her workplace, a restaurant in the city, was damaged by the series of jolts. “Although the restaurant was reopened, customers have not come back. The other day, the manager told me that he cannot pay wages because the business prospects are dim. So I decided to receive job training in order to get another job,” she added.
A Hello Work Kumamoto official said, “The number of requests for labor counseling is expected to increase further.”
Shigematsu Junpei, secretary of the Kumamoto Prefectural Federation of Trade Unions, affiliated with the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren), said, “Taking advantage of being hit by the quakes, some companies are firing workers. Even if employers are suffering from a disaster, they are not allowed to dismiss employees automatically. We’ll urge the labor bureau to redouble its efforts to inform affected workers of their rights.”
Past related article:
> JCP strives hard to relieve victims of earthquakes in Kyushu [April 19, 2016]
A 35-year-old mother bringing up three children said, “I was set to begin to work for a company cleaning a local hospital on April 15. But the hospital was crippled by the quakes and I lost that job opportunity. I have to find another job as soon as possible as my family budget is very tight.”
As of May 13, the number of labor counseling requests which were made to public employment offices and labor standards inspection offices in Kumamoto Prefecture has exceeded 11,000. Of them, 211 are related to dismissals.
A 25-year-old woman living in Kumamoto City said that her workplace, a restaurant in the city, was damaged by the series of jolts. “Although the restaurant was reopened, customers have not come back. The other day, the manager told me that he cannot pay wages because the business prospects are dim. So I decided to receive job training in order to get another job,” she added.
A Hello Work Kumamoto official said, “The number of requests for labor counseling is expected to increase further.”
Shigematsu Junpei, secretary of the Kumamoto Prefectural Federation of Trade Unions, affiliated with the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren), said, “Taking advantage of being hit by the quakes, some companies are firing workers. Even if employers are suffering from a disaster, they are not allowed to dismiss employees automatically. We’ll urge the labor bureau to redouble its efforts to inform affected workers of their rights.”
Past related article:
> JCP strives hard to relieve victims of earthquakes in Kyushu [April 19, 2016]
