December 5, 2018

It was recently revealed that Sharp Corporation fired about 3,000 foreign workers at its Kameyama Factory (Mie Pref.) within one year.

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Tatsumi Kotaro, at a meeting of the House of Councilors Committee on Economy and Industry on December 4, pointed out that many foreign workers' fundamental human rights have been neglected and he opposed a bill currently being discussed to accept more foreign workers to Japan.

Tatsumi criticized the employment scheme the Sharp plant uses: hiring foreign workers under 2-month contracts and transferring them to other group companies.

Tatsumi asked, "Is this legal?" and demanded that the government investigate this issue and instruct the company to comply with labor laws.

Takagai Emiko, a state minister of labor, in reply said, "If deemed necessary, we will conduct an investigation." Economy Minister Seko Hiroshige answered, "We will confirm the facts in collaboration with the Labor Ministry or will conduct hearings with Sharp. If law violations are found, we will deal with it accordingly."

The Abe government is now trying to revise the Immigration Control Act in order to increase the number of foreign workers working in Japan. The government explains that it aims to attract more than 30,000 foreigners to the Japanese electronics industry within five years to solve a "labor shortage".

Tatsumi said, "Already this year, 3,000 foreign workers were dismissed at just one factory. Is the industry really facing a 'labor shortage' where foreign workers are actually used as disposable labor?" He again demanded that the government fulfill its responsibility to protect workers' fundamental human rights.