Japan Press Weekly

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2014 May 14 - 20 [LABOR]

JCP Kira demands a closing of income gaps at Japan Post

Fixed-term contract workers at Japan Post, despite doing the same job as regular workers, receive 3.8 million yen less in annual income than regular workers in violation of the labor law.

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Kira Yoshiko on May 13 took up this issue at an Upper House committee meeting, stating that Article 20 of the Labor Contract Act bans setting irrational differences in labor conditions between a worker on a limited-term contract and a worker on a permanent contract working under the same employer.

Regular employees at Japan Post, the largest company of which the government owns bundles of stock, earn 6.05 million yen in annual income while contracted employees receive 2.27million yen. During busy times of the year, an allowance of 4,000-5,000 yen per day is paid to the former but not to the latter.

Kira also revealed that many workers there are actually forced to buy Japan Post goods, including New Year’s postcards, at their own expense in order to meet their sales quotas.

Arguing that it is unforgivable for the government to overlook illegal labor practices in the corporation where the state itself is the largest shareholder, she demanded that appropriate directives be given to Japan Post to end the unfair treatment.