Japan Press Weekly

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2008 January 23 - 29 [LABOR]

Zenroren establishes non-regular workers’ center

The National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) announced on January 24 that it has established a center for non-regular workers in order to substantially strengthen the movement to defend employment and the rights of non-regular workers such as part-timers, temporary workers, and foreign workers.

Zenroren Secretary General Odagawa Yoshikazu explained that the new center will take the lead in struggles to realize the demands of non-regular workers and to help organize them. He added that the center will also propose policies, carry out counseling and research, and supply information in cooperation with scholars, researchers, and lawyers. “Improvement in non-regular workers’ working conditions is an urgent task that we should take on in this Spring Struggle. Taking advantage of the establishment of the center, let us make a major advance in this field,” he said.

By creating various liaison councils to address the problems experienced by part-timers, temporary workers, helpers, and foreign workers, Zenroren has developed movements to reveal the corporate illegal use of temporary workers and to force employers to provide non-regular workers with permanent positions.

The Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) has also established a similar center to deal with non-regular workers’ problems. The establishment of such centers by two national labor confederations will boost workers’ struggles.