November 6, 2013
Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Kira Yoshiko urged the central government on November 5 not to reduce the number of public offices providing labor counseling services.
In the name of administrative and financial reform, the Abe administration is aiming to cut the number of prefectural labor administration offices.
In an Upper House internal affairs committee meeting, Kira stressed the important role of labor administration offices, citing the fact that the consultation offices in Tokyo alone give advice to about 20,000 workers a year on average, as well as organize a lot of seminars on various issues, including the explanation of labor laws. She went on to mention that in a region of Nagano Prefecture, where some labor counseling centers were shut down under the direction of the Internal Affairs Ministry, workers’ requests for advice have dropped by 800 in two years after the closure.
Kira demanded a halt to the planned cutbacks in the number of labor administration offices, saying, “If there had been more counseling bureaus in that region, more employees could have gotten useful advice in regard to their concerns. The ministry should seriously take into consideration its responsibility.”
The young lawmaker also revealed some abusive working conditions at so-called “black corporations”: a man in his 20s working for the major pub restaurant chain Watami was forced to pay for unused ingredients for dishes served and thus his monthly wage fell by several tens of thousands yen; and a female worker at Akita Publishing Co. was often so busy that she did not go home and was chained to her desk around-the-clock taking antidepressant drugs.
Kira argued that the government should listen to workers’ concerns as well as reinforce the system to protect their rights and jobs.
Past related article:
> Watami receives ‘Black Corporation’ award [August 13, 2013]
In the name of administrative and financial reform, the Abe administration is aiming to cut the number of prefectural labor administration offices.
In an Upper House internal affairs committee meeting, Kira stressed the important role of labor administration offices, citing the fact that the consultation offices in Tokyo alone give advice to about 20,000 workers a year on average, as well as organize a lot of seminars on various issues, including the explanation of labor laws. She went on to mention that in a region of Nagano Prefecture, where some labor counseling centers were shut down under the direction of the Internal Affairs Ministry, workers’ requests for advice have dropped by 800 in two years after the closure.
Kira demanded a halt to the planned cutbacks in the number of labor administration offices, saying, “If there had been more counseling bureaus in that region, more employees could have gotten useful advice in regard to their concerns. The ministry should seriously take into consideration its responsibility.”
The young lawmaker also revealed some abusive working conditions at so-called “black corporations”: a man in his 20s working for the major pub restaurant chain Watami was forced to pay for unused ingredients for dishes served and thus his monthly wage fell by several tens of thousands yen; and a female worker at Akita Publishing Co. was often so busy that she did not go home and was chained to her desk around-the-clock taking antidepressant drugs.
Kira argued that the government should listen to workers’ concerns as well as reinforce the system to protect their rights and jobs.
Past related article:
> Watami receives ‘Black Corporation’ award [August 13, 2013]
