Japan Press Weekly

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2015 March 4 - 10 [LABOR]

Zenroren in day-long action protests against introduction of ‘zero-overtime-payment’ system

The National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) and the People’s Spring Struggle Joint Committee on March 4 staged a day of action in Tokyo, seeking to liven up the 2015 spring wage offensive to achieve a huge wage hike and block the government plan to introduce a zero-overtime-payment system.

Around 2,700 union workers held a rally at the Hibiya Amphitheater. Zenroren President Odagawa Yoshikazu criticized the Labor Ministry’s panel for proposing a system that will exempt employers from paying overtime to workers in defiance of fierce opposition from unions and the general public. After the rally, participants marched in demonstration to the Diet building through the government office district of Kasumigaseki.

Prior to the rally, the union activists made representations to various ministries, demanding a drastic increase in wages, cancellation of adverse revision of labor laws, and improvement of the social welfare system.

At the labor and welfare ministry, the vice chair of the National Union of Welfare and Childcare Workers (Fukushi-hoikuro) stressed the need for a pay raise, pointing out that nursing-care and child care facilities are suffering from staff shortages due to low wages.

At the National Personnel Authority, Zenroren-affiliated public workers’ unions protested the government plan to unilaterally revise its salary system. Kitamura Yoshihisa, chair of the All-Japan Federation of Teachers and Staff Unions (Zenkyo), pointed out that pay cuts for public workers will deal a severe blow to the economy. He added that wage hikes are vital to give a boost to domestic demand.