Japan Press Weekly

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2019 October 30 - November 5 [LABOR]

Largest builders' union in Japan resolves to apply all their skills in post-disaster reconstruction work

The National Federation of Construction Workers' Unions (Zenkensoren) on October 30 held its regular convention in Kumamoto City and agreed to use all their skills and knowledge in reconstruction efforts in the wake of a spate of natural disasters across Japan.

The country's largest union of workers in the industry also confirmed their determination to obtain better wages and unit prices in order to secure enough manpower while recovery efforts will most probably be short of hands.

Yoshida Mitsuo, president of the 700,000-member Zenkensoren, in his opening address pointed out, "Due to the recent natural disasters such as mega typhoons hitting Japan one after another, local construction workers and contractors are being requested to build a lot of provisional wooden housing units. They are playing an important role in disaster-relief efforts in each community.

Yoshida called on Zenkensoren members to address the issue of excessively long working hours and to properly manage their hours of work in addition to the demand for better wages and unit prices.

At the Zenkensoren convention, Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Daimon Mikishi, representatives from the Liberal Democratic Party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Democratic Party for the People, the Komei Party, and the Social Democratic Party gave greeting speeches.

Past related articles:
> Construction workers call for better gov’t support for their health insurance system [June 29, 2016]
> Construction sector labor shortage should be solved through drastic improvement of working environment [May 25, 2014]