Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2013 October 30 - November 5 TOP3 [LABOR]

Unionized youth hold street action against disposable use of young labor

In protest against corporate use of young workers as disposable labor, 120 unionized young workers on November 3 carried out a street action in front of Shinjuku Station in Tokyo.

This action was hosted by the youth branch of the Tokyo Regional Council of Trade Unions.

The participants distributed flyers and offered free labor counseling at the crowded shopping district on Sunday afternoon.

The youth branch’s representative Hirose Natsumi appealed to passers-by saying that the Abe Cabinet is moving to allow Japanese employers to freely lay off workers and force them to endure more overtime work without pay. This will inevitably lead to more low-paid temporary jobs that will cause more hardships for youth trying to make ends meet, she warned.

The participants talked about their harsh working conditions, saying, “If assigned to supervising school club activities, teachers must work 95 hours of overtime a month on average,” “Construction workers’ salaries are 25% lower than those in other industries,” and, “A planned consumption tax hike would deliver a serious blow to taxi drivers.”