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

JCP in Diet calls for steps to reduce wage gap between full-time and part-time workers

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Yoshikawa Haruko used her questioning time in the House Budget Committee meeting on March 13 to demand that the government take steps to reduce the widening wage gap between full-time workers and part-time and other contingent workers.

Showing figures taken from data compiled by the Health, Labor, and Welfare Ministry, Yoshikawa pointed out that the part-time workers received 45.9 percent of the wages of full-time workers in 1990, and that the percentage continued to decline to 41.5 percent in 2004.

European countries generally follow the principle of the same wage for the same work, and the gap between part-time workers and full-time workers is very small.

Yoshikawa also pointed out that in Japan there is no law providing for equal treatment between regular and non-regular workers and that the regional minimum wage system is used as the benchmark for non-regular workers.

The national average of Japan's minimum hourly wage is 668 yen, comparable only to the U.S., 664 yen; it is much lower than Britain's 1,039 yen and France's 1,148 yen.

Yoshikawa said, "Isn't this a shame for Japan as an economic powerhouse?"

Health, Labor, and Welfare Minister Kawasaki Jiro just said that he needs to look into the actual conditions first.

Yoshikawa also pointed out that the minimum wage is below the standards for livelihood protection in most regions. She urged the government to raise the minimum wage to meet living costs.

The HL&W minister answered, "The Labor Policy Council is discussing it. I hope that the council will come to a conclusion as soon as possible."
- Akahata, March 14, 2006