Japan Press Weekly

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2010 April 14 - 20 [LABOR]

Lower House begins discussing bill to revise Worker Dispatch Law

At the House of Representatives plenary session, JCP representative Takahashi Chizuko said that the government bill has two huge loopholes.

One loophole is that although the bill bans the use of temporary workers in the manufacturing industry, it exempts temporary workers who are regularly employed by staffing agencies.

Even at present, out 550,000 of temporary workers in that sector, 64% are regularly hired by staffing agencies.

Tkahashi said, “The use of temporary workers in the manufacturing industry should be totally prohibited.”

The other loophole is that although the bill bans the use of on-call temporary workers, it excludes “26 special job categories” which supposedly require special knowledge and technical skills.

These “26 categories”, however, include clerical work such as filing and typing. Half of the temporary workers engaged in the “26 special job categories” are doing clerical jobs.

Citing these facts, Tahashi urged the government to “reduce exempted job categories.”

Pointing out that the bill postpones implementing the restriction on the use of temporary workers in the manufacturing industry and the use of on-call temporary workers for five years, Takahashi stated that in the deliberations “the government should take people’s demands, including that of dismissed temporary workers, into consideration.”
- Akahata, April 17, 2010