 Workers call on government to act for job creation Workers from unions participating in the Joint Council for Victory of the People's Spring struggle on December 16 held a rally in Tokyo and petitioned the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to take urgent steps to create more jobs and reduce unemployment. About 300 workers held a rally in which the organizers criticized the Japan Business Federation (JBF or Nippon Keidanren) for trying to further increase the use of temporary workers instead of employing full-time workers and push ahead with deregulations while calling for job creation specifically for young people. A worker reported that the government's temporary funding for local job creation has helped some unemployed people find jobs as cleaners at public parks, adding that there can be no choice but to die if the term of this program expires, he said. A member of the Tokyo Construction Workers Union warned that the government is attempting to lift the ban on using temporary workers in the construction industry, following the manufacturing industry. Abolishing the present subsidy for job creation will force workers into hard and low-paying work, he said. Participants in the rally demanded that the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare maintain the public employment security office system, not allow companies to use temporary workers in the construction industry, and not discontinue temporary benefits to assist in local job creation. (end) |