December 12, 2024
A union organizing workers at a public facility for the mentally disabled in Kanagawa’s Yokosuka City on December 11 went on strike to demand that the facility operator make efforts to avoid the impending dismissals of all of the staff.
The facility called “Kagamidaen” is operated by a designated administrator selected by the Yokosuka City government every five years. The current operator is a social welfare corporation, an extra-departmental body of the city.
The social welfare corporation on November 7 notified facility workers of the termination of their employment contracts and the dissolution of the corporation by the end of March 2025. As the reason, the facility operator explained that it was not designated by the city to manage the Kagamidaen for the next five years.
Two days later, the union through collective bargaining demanded that the corporation make efforts to maintain jobs so that all workers can continue working at the facility. However, after the talks broke down, the union decided to go on strike as planned.
At a rally during the strike, union chair Iwanaga Toshikazu pointed out, “At a facility for mentally disabled persons, the replacement of all staff members will cause the users uneasiness,” and said that in order to protect jobs and ensure that the users receive the same support and service as before, the union will continue negotiating with the operator.
Former House of Representatives member of the Japanese Communist Party Hatano Kimie, JCP Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly member Isaka Shin’nya, and a group of JCP Yokosuka City assemblypersons took part in the rally.
The facility called “Kagamidaen” is operated by a designated administrator selected by the Yokosuka City government every five years. The current operator is a social welfare corporation, an extra-departmental body of the city.
The social welfare corporation on November 7 notified facility workers of the termination of their employment contracts and the dissolution of the corporation by the end of March 2025. As the reason, the facility operator explained that it was not designated by the city to manage the Kagamidaen for the next five years.
Two days later, the union through collective bargaining demanded that the corporation make efforts to maintain jobs so that all workers can continue working at the facility. However, after the talks broke down, the union decided to go on strike as planned.
At a rally during the strike, union chair Iwanaga Toshikazu pointed out, “At a facility for mentally disabled persons, the replacement of all staff members will cause the users uneasiness,” and said that in order to protect jobs and ensure that the users receive the same support and service as before, the union will continue negotiating with the operator.
Former House of Representatives member of the Japanese Communist Party Hatano Kimie, JCP Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly member Isaka Shin’nya, and a group of JCP Yokosuka City assemblypersons took part in the rally.
