Japan Press Weekly

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2009 January 14 - 20 [LABOR]

Young JCP supporters provide labor counseling on the streets

Young people who support the Japanese Communist Party held a labor counseling session and passed out hot miso-soup on January 17 in front of Shibuya Station in Tokyo.

The Kaeru-Net (young people’s network to achieve political change together with the JCP) in Tokyo and the Tokyo Metropolitan Committee of the Democratic Youth League of Japan (DYLJ) organized the counseling action as part of their campaign for a JCP advance in the coming House of Representatives general election.

A 33-year-old man said: “I have signed up for jobs at a staffing agency but have not found any. I had some job interviews but no job offers. It is harder to find a job as I get older.” He was laid off as a temporary worker last May. “I agree with the JCP’s demand that major corporations use part of their enormous profits to secure our jobs,” he said.

A 36-year-old man said that he has been looking for a job twice a week at “Hello Work” (Public Employment Security Office) since his previous employer went bankrupt last year. When a Kaeru-Net member called on him to work together to restore the restrictions on the use of temporary workers to the status quo ante so that workers can work with dignity, he said, “I totally agree with the JCP’s call. I will support it in the election.”

Four out of the 10 consulted people said that they will keep contact with the group of JCP supporters.

Prior to the street counseling action, the participants marched in demonstration through the downtown Shibuya district, popular with young people, chanting, “Major corporations should stop firing temporary workers!” and “The government should give them shelters and jobs!”