Japan Press Weekly

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2009 April 22 - 28 [LABOR]

Temporary workers rally to discuss struggles against arbitrary dismissals

About 200 temporary workers took part in a meeting held on April 21 in Tokyo to share their experiences in struggles against arbitrary dismissals.

This was held by the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) for the first time since its founding 20 years ago. Contingent workers fighting against the destruction of the job market by establishing their own unions assembled from around the country.

A member of Yamaguchi Prefectural General Workers’ Union affiliated with the National Union of General Workers, a member of Zenroren, said, “The way that Mazda dismissed me is much worse than their way of dumping auto parts.”

Stressing that it is empowering to fight back by establishing labor unions, he stated, “Before becoming involved in the struggle, I was a loner. It surprises me to find how much I changed by deciding to care about other workers’ rights and becoming involved in helping each other.”

Zenroren Secretary General Odagawa Yoshikazu in the keynote report said that 172 unions have recently established and emphasized that temporary workers won many achievements by forcing companies to accept their social responsibility through collective bargaining and abiding by local Labor Bureaus’ directions, and that the government has finally begun to implement some measures to protect worker interests.

Odagawa said, “If we struggle together, we can make progress. Let’s further our movement by organizing more workers and standing up together.”

Temporary workers, who are struggling at major corporations, including Canon, Panasonic, Sony, and Mazda, spoke about their experiences.