Japan Press Weekly

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2009 February 18 - 24 [LABOR]

JCP lawmakers in Tokyo request governor to take urgent measures to secure jobs and places to live

The Japanese Communist Party Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Members’ Group on February 23 urged Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro to take urgent measures to give a helping hand to those who were laid off as temporary workers and to ensure that they have places to live.

Based on what the JCP group found at jobs counseling sessions it held on the streets in January and February, the JCP group compiled a 10-point proposal to give relief to jobless and homeless workers.

The proposal called on the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to urge major companies to stop the massive job cuts of temporary workers, open comprehensive counseling centers to provide then with services even on weekends, thoroughly instruct municipalities to provide welfare protection for workers who lost their places to live, and build more protection and self-support facilities for emergency and temporary use.

In the meeting with Vice Governor Taniguchi Kenji, the JCP Tokyo Assembly Members’ Group Secretary General Yoshida Nobuo explained that an unexpected number of workers visited the JCP jobs counseling center seeking advice concerning their serious situations.

Yoshida said, “Increasing numbers of workers are in need of such counseling services. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government should take urgent measures to solve the difficulty of finding apartments that are affordable because they are unable to relax when they are forced to sleep in bunk beds in cramped quarters.”

JCP requests the Labor Bureau to instruct companies to avoid laying off temporary workers

The Japanese Communist Party Tokyo Metropolitan Committee and the JCP Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Members Group on February 23 visited the Tokyo Labor Bureau on urgent business to request the labor law enforcement office to prevent illegal dismissals of contingent workers from happening.

A Labor Bureau official admitted that it is illegal to use temporary workers as independent contractors for certain brief periods in order to work them without having to offer them full-time positions. He stated that the Labor Bureau will give companies and staffing agencies necessary instructions in case they ignore the recommendation.

The official also said that the Labor Bureau regards the current situation, in which a large number of workers have lost their jobs, as a crisis situation and is taking positive measures. He explained that the bureau will make efforts to educate and fully instruct staffing agencies about regulations by holding a workshop.

JCP Tokyo Metropolitan Committee Vice Chair Tamura Tomoko requested the Labor Bureau to take measures to provide workers with information about their rights as well as to provide guidance to companies and staffing agencies.