Japan Press Weekly

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2008 September 10 - 16 [LABOR]

Shii calls on youth to join hands for decent work rules

“I am not paid for overtime. What does the JCP think about such problems?”

Young people asked such questions to Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo in a downtown area in Tokyo on September 9.

Shii gave a speech and answered questions from young people in Shibuya, Tokyo’s district popular with young people. He called on young people to struggle together to establish decent work rules so that they can get a stable job.

As Shii was denouncing the harsh working conditions of temporary workers, some young people in front of Shibuya Station stopped typing e-mail messages on their mobile phones and raised their faces to listen. Young passers-by stopped walking and made a circle around Shii.

He explained that the government, pushed by workers’ struggles and public demands, has decided to strengthen regulations on the use of temporary labor. “It is a crucial moment,” he said.

The JCP chair made four proposals to get decent work rules established: to thoroughly revise the Worker Dispatch Law to restore restrictions that were removed in 1999 when bans on temporary labor were lifted; strictly regulate fixed-term contract employment in order to prohibit employers from using and disposing their workers anytime they want; drastically raise the minimum hourly wage to 1,000 yen; and eliminate long and excessive work, the cause of death from overwork.

Explaining why the JCP can struggle for the workers’ interests, Shii said that the party refuses to accept corporate donations and that its program calls for the current form of capitalism without rules to be corrected and for an economy to be established based on rules.

“I call on you to support the JCP in the next House of Representatives general election. The JCP is a party capable of changing policies from those defending the interests of large corporations to those improving the living conditions of the majority.”