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Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Construction workers claim their share of corporate profits

About 3,500 construction workers in Tokyo and adjacent prefectures participated in a rally at Hibiya Amphitheater in Tokyo on February 14, calling on general contractor construction companies to eliminate faulty quake-resistance structures and remove asbestos, and to end their cost-cutting race and return profits to the workers.

The rally was organized as part of the 2006 Spring Struggle calling for a wage increase and better working conditions The participants later walked in demonstration to the Diet.

An outer wall plasterer from Chiba Prefecture complained that the unit price is 40 percent of what it used to be decades ago, and the orders also decreased by almost 40 percent.

The average wage for construction workers now has gone back to the level 15 years ago. One out of every two construction workers earns less than 3 million yen a year. Another plasterer from Saitama City said he has employment for only half of his 10 employees.

Numajiri Osamu, vice chair of the construction workers union of the Construction and Transport Ministry, said: "The government deregulation policy in the name of achieving a 'small government' has caused quake-resistance data falsification and serious train accidents. Let us struggle not to allow the government to abandon its responsibility to protect the lives and safety of the people."
- Akahata, February 15, 2006