Japan Press Weekly

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2008 December 10 - 16 [LABOR]

JCP Chair Shii says struggle by contingent workers has begun

As large corporations are planning to lay off contingent workers on a large scale, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo emphasized at a news conference on December 11 that workers’ struggles in opposition to layoffs have begun in earnest. His remarks are as below:

There are two notable developments.

One is that contingent workers’ struggles in opposition to layoffs have begun.

In many workplaces throughout the country, including those at Isuzu Motors Tochigi Plant and Fujisawa Plant and Oita Canon, contingent workers are rising up in action to reverse the adverse current by establishing unions. It is important to note that workers are now involved in the struggle to exercise their constitutional right to organize.

The other important development is the Health Ministry’s directive of December 9 aimed at preventing contingent workers from being laid off.

The directive stipulates that termination of fixed-term employment contracts before the expiration date is illegal unless companies provide “inevitable reasons” for doing so. The directive also states that if a company fires temporary workers by refusing to renew their contracts, such behavior will be regarded as illegal.

The directive requires local labor bureaus to give guidance to companies with the aim of securing jobs.

Although this directive is not nearly enough, this is certainly an important achievement in the part of the workers and the JCP. We consider this directive as a springboard for workers to win in their struggle against companies’ arbitrary dismissals. The JCP will do all it can to further develop the struggle by making use of this directive.