January 31, 2009
Grilling Prime Minister Aso Taro about the government responsibility for the collapse of the job market and the economic downturn in the House of Representatives Plenary Session, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo proposed five concrete measures for the government to take to create and save jobs, and revitalize the economy.
Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo grilled Prime Minister Aso Taro about the government responsibility for the collapse of the job market and the economic downturn in the House of Representatives Plenary Session on January 30.
Shii also proposed that the government take the following five concrete measures to create and save jobs, and revitalize the economy:
(1) Ensure that stable employment be provided;
(2) Establish reliable social services;
(3) Extend support to small- and medium-sized enterprises;
(4) Revitalize agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; and
(5) Stop a consumption tax increase that will increase the poverty rate.
Shii said, “Many people took shelter at the ‘tent village’, a temporary relief center set up at Hibiya Park in Tokyo during the New Year holiday period for people who became homeless after being laid off as temporary workers. Many more such people are now forced to live in parks and in the streets in the dead of winter.”
He stressed that the successive Liberal Democratic Party governments are to blame for the adverse labor law reforms, including the 1999 law to deregulate the use of temporary workers and the 2004 law that removed restrictions on the use of temporary workers in the manufacturing sector.
Shii said these deregulations have allowed employers to implement without hesitation the massive layoffs of temporary workers. “The government must be held responsible for the disaster.”
Aso did not respond to Shii’s comment about “political disaster” but only stated, “The rapid worsening of the employment situation is beyond what the government predicted at the time of revising the Worker Dispatch Law.”
Government should take three immediate steps
Shii pointed out that the government should take three immediate steps to solve the present issue of rising unemployment:
- Help find places to live and jobs for those who were forced out of their dormitories when they were fired;
- Instruct large corporations to stop mass layoffs; and
- Revise the labor laws to prevent employers from using workers as disposable labor.
Aso promised Shii that the government will “take appropriate measures to provide livelihood protection to people who have no place to live at present.”
Shii said that while the worsening U.S. economy is partially responsible for the sweeping deterioration of the Japanese job market, “the government destroyed the regulations that would have protected people’s jobs and the nation’s economy.”
He also criticized the government for paving the way for the Japanese economy to become overly dependent on exports and therefore highly vulnerable to external factors, and demanded that the government admit its mistake in pushing the “structural reform” policy that has caused these political disasters.
Aso said, “We will carry out economic policy changes to make it possible to achieve sustainable growth led by domestic demands”, but he also made clear that the government will adhere to the “structural reform” policy by stating, “The government will maintain the fundamentals of the “structural reform” policy and will further develop this policy.”
Referring to the five JCP proposals, Shii said, “Prime Minister, if you agree with the need for an economic policy led by domestic demand, you should drastically change the pro-big business policy to one that cares for the household economy.
Shii also proposed that the government take the following five concrete measures to create and save jobs, and revitalize the economy:
(1) Ensure that stable employment be provided;
(2) Establish reliable social services;
(3) Extend support to small- and medium-sized enterprises;
(4) Revitalize agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; and
(5) Stop a consumption tax increase that will increase the poverty rate.
Shii said, “Many people took shelter at the ‘tent village’, a temporary relief center set up at Hibiya Park in Tokyo during the New Year holiday period for people who became homeless after being laid off as temporary workers. Many more such people are now forced to live in parks and in the streets in the dead of winter.”
He stressed that the successive Liberal Democratic Party governments are to blame for the adverse labor law reforms, including the 1999 law to deregulate the use of temporary workers and the 2004 law that removed restrictions on the use of temporary workers in the manufacturing sector.
Shii said these deregulations have allowed employers to implement without hesitation the massive layoffs of temporary workers. “The government must be held responsible for the disaster.”
Aso did not respond to Shii’s comment about “political disaster” but only stated, “The rapid worsening of the employment situation is beyond what the government predicted at the time of revising the Worker Dispatch Law.”
Government should take three immediate steps
Shii pointed out that the government should take three immediate steps to solve the present issue of rising unemployment:
- Help find places to live and jobs for those who were forced out of their dormitories when they were fired;
- Instruct large corporations to stop mass layoffs; and
- Revise the labor laws to prevent employers from using workers as disposable labor.
Aso promised Shii that the government will “take appropriate measures to provide livelihood protection to people who have no place to live at present.”
Shii said that while the worsening U.S. economy is partially responsible for the sweeping deterioration of the Japanese job market, “the government destroyed the regulations that would have protected people’s jobs and the nation’s economy.”
He also criticized the government for paving the way for the Japanese economy to become overly dependent on exports and therefore highly vulnerable to external factors, and demanded that the government admit its mistake in pushing the “structural reform” policy that has caused these political disasters.
Aso said, “We will carry out economic policy changes to make it possible to achieve sustainable growth led by domestic demands”, but he also made clear that the government will adhere to the “structural reform” policy by stating, “The government will maintain the fundamentals of the “structural reform” policy and will further develop this policy.”
Referring to the five JCP proposals, Shii said, “Prime Minister, if you agree with the need for an economic policy led by domestic demand, you should drastically change the pro-big business policy to one that cares for the household economy.
