Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2018 February 21 - 27 TOP3 [LABOR]

Union succeeds in having dismissal plan canceled at national institute

The labor union at Japan's largest national research body, the National Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), has successfully pressed the RIKEN authority to withdraw its plan to dismiss a large number of fixed-term RIKEN workers.

This is the fruit of efforts made by the RIKEN union and RIKEN employees as well as by the Japanese Communist Party Diet questioning over the issue.

RIKEN on February 26 held a meeting with its staff and announced that it will call off the termination of 345 fixed-term labor contracts which had been planned for the end of March. RIKEN explained that it will continue to employ workers who have worked for five years as long as their work assignments remain and will offer them open-ended employment contracts if they wish.

Welcoming the outcome, the union held a press conference at the Labor Ministry building on the same day and said it will keep paying attention to RIKEN to ensure that the institute will continue negotiating with the authority until the union wins unlimited-term contracts for all limited-term employees.

RIKEN in April 2016 set a limit of five years on the terms of contracts with part-time employees despite the union's opposition, which led the union to file a complaint with the Tokyo Metropolitan Labor Relations Commission regarding RIKEN's unfair labor practice.

JCP member of the House of Councilors Tamura Tomoko in early February took up this issue in a House Budget Committee meeting. Education Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa told Tamura that the ministry will instruct RIKEN to comply with the Labor Contract Act. The JCP Dietmembers' group on February 16 requested relevant ministries and agencies to check and correct the tactics used to evade legal restrictions at incorporated administrative agencies if found.

Past related article:
> Trade minister promises JCP Tamura not to allow JETRO to evade labor law [February 2, 2018]