Japan Press Weekly

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2016 April 6 - 12 [LABOR]

Illegal labor practices and human rights abuses against foreign trainees unacceptable: JCP Hatano

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Hatano Kimie on April 6 at a House Judicial Affairs Committee meeting demanded the elimination of illegal labor practices and human rights abuses in the Technical Intern Training Program also known as the foreign trainee program.

In response to Hatano, a Labor Ministry official said that in 2014, the ministry found violations of labor laws in 76% of 3,918 organizations and businesses utilizing the program.

Citing the fact that in FY2014, 34 fatal accidents involving foreign trainees were reported and that many trainees are also being exploited by having to pay expensive company dormitory fees, Hatano called for the improvement of the foreign trainee program.

The foreign trainee system has long been criticized as a tactic used to supply cheap/unskilled foreign labor under the name of making an international contribution and offering a transfer of skills. At present, about 190,000 trainees mainly from China, Vietnam, and the Philippines are working in Japan.

The Abe government submitted to the current Diet session a bill to revise the program which includes an extension of trainees’ work period from the current three years to five years and an increase in the number of industries covered by the program. The Diet on this day began discussing the bill.

Past related articles:
> 80% of employers using foreign trainees violate labor laws [October 2, 2015]
> JCP Koike: End illegal labor practices against foreign trainees [May 14, 2015]
> Labor ministry panel opens door for use of foreign trainees as cheap labor in nursing-care industry [January 28, 2015]