Japan Press Weekly

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2016 October 19 - 25 [LABOR]

Foreign trainee program without freedom to choose where to work violates human rights: JCP Hatano

The House of Representatives Judicial Affairs Committee on October 21 approved a bill concerning the use of the government-initiated foreign trainee and technical internship program with a majority vote of the ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties and the opposition Democratic Party.

In discussions prior to the vote, Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Hatano Kimie opposed the bill by saying, “The bill which offers little choice for foreign trainees to decide where to work will be useless in protecting foreign trainees’ labor rights and will not contribute to solving structural problems in the program.”

Hatano criticized the bill for failing to prevent the repressive work environment, the root of human rights violations against foreign trainees. She also pointed out that the bill lacks a provision regarding a bilateral agreement which is essential to eliminate heinous brokers and unreasonably-high guarantee deposits.

On the other hand, the JCP lawmaker expressed her approval of a proposal for the foreign trainee program that payments for foreign trainees should be at least the same amount as Japanese workers and that working conditions including working hours and holidays should be specified.

Past related articles:
> Record number of illegal labor practices found among employers using foreign trainees [August 18, 2016]
> Illegal labor practices and human rights abuses against foreign trainees unacceptable: JCP Hatano [April 7, 2016]