Japan Press Weekly

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2020 September 2 - 8 [LABOR]

Part-time café staff go on strike, seeking compensation for corona-caused leave

Two of the four union members working part-time for the chain of pastry shops "Tarte & Café Delices" in Tokyo and around Tokyo areas started a 2-week strike on September 3, seeking payment for leave compensation following the corona-caused closure of shops.

The cake shops are operated by the parent company Fujio Food Group (426 regular workers, 7,012 non-regular part-timers).

The four workers, after joining the Tokyo Youth Union, held collective bargaining on July 28, accompanied by the union's restaurant branch. In the collective negotiation, they found out that the company pays full compensation to regular workers.

The four workers and the union demanded that compensation for absence of work due to the shop closure be provided also to part-time staff and that Fujio Food Group ask the government for the expansion of relevant support programs. However, the company refused to compensate the four.

One of the four said, "This made me decide to go on strike, or our demand won't be heard."

Harada Niki, the Tokyo Youth Union chair, said, "Fujio Food is categorized as a large corporation in the restaurant industry. Major restaurant chains hardly ever pay leave compensation to non-regular workers, and part-time workers at large food service companies cannot receive compensation benefits the Labor Ministry provides because this program is only for workers at smaller companies. It's a major loophole in the program."

Past related article:
> Hotel managers file lawsuit demanding withdrawal of unfair dismissals during coronavirus crisis [May 29, 2020]