Japan Press Weekly

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2009 January 28 - February 3 [LABOR]

JCP Dietmembers investigate dismissals of foreign workers in Hamamatsu

Three Japanese Communist Party Dietmembers on February 2 visited Hamamatsu City in Shizuoka Prefecture to get an accurate picture of the actual state of hardships that hit foreign workers through the recent arbitrary dismissals.

Shizuoka Prefecture has the third largest number of foreign workers of all Japanese prefectures. Hamamatsu, where a large number of automobile and other manufacturers are concentrated, has the largest number of foreign workers in Shizuoka.

In the meeting with Hamamatsu City officials, JCP member of the House of Representatives Sasaki Kensho said, “We’ve heard that foreign workers are treated in a discriminatory manner in that they are the first to be fired. We want to know more about their actual conditions.”

An official explained that 60 percent of foreign workers are temporary workers and independent contractors, and that the number is higher than the national average of 30 percent.

The official said, “All the 50 apartments which the city provided to people who lost their jobs were soon occupied. When the city offered 50 positions as temporary staff, 124 people applied for the positions. Ninety percent of these applicants were non-Japanese workers. During these two months, the City Office received 1,054 cases for job counseling and advice for livelihood protection.

The city official mentioned that the number of students is decreasing at schools for foreign workers’ children while the rate of unpaid school lunch fees is increasing because parents lost their jobs, and that only 10 percent of foreign workers are enrolled in social insurance programs.

The official asked JCP Diet members to urge the national government to provide support for a project to promote educational support for foreign children, which Hamamatsu City carries out using its own budget at present.

Earlier in the day, Shizuoka Labor Bureau officials told the JCP Dietmembers that they more staff counselors for foreign workers.

The JCP Dietmembers also met with foreign workers who are members of the All-Japan Metal and Information Machinery Workers’ Union.