JCP proposes amendment to the bill to revise minimum wage law

   Japanese Communist Party Policy Commission Chair Koike Akira on November 22 proposed an amendment to a bill to revise the minimum wage law in a directors’ meeting of the House of Councilors Labor Committee in which the bill was currently under discussion.

   The current minimum wage level amounts to an annual salary of less than two million yen which is too low to make a living. In addition, there are wide disparities in minimum wages depending on regions in the country.

   The government bill to revise the minimum wage law was already amended in the House of Representatives jointly by the Liberal Democratic, Democratic, and Komei parties. However, the current bill, which only states the minimum wage should not be lower than the livelihood protection standards, will lead to neither a sharp increase in minimum wages nor the resolution of disparities.

   The JCP proposal clearly states that the minimum wage level must enable workers to receive the wages necessary for them and their family members to “maintain the minimum standards of wholesome and cultured living” as the Constitution provides.

   It will abolish the provision of “employers’ ability to pay” that the current law requires to be taken into account in setting the minimum wage level.

   The JCP proposal calls for a national uniform minimum wage system to be established and applied to all workers.

   The National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) is also calling for a minimum wage that will effectively cover the minimum cost of living. On November 20, Zenroren held a rally in front of the Diet building demanding a drastic revision of the minimum wage law.
- Akahata, November 21 & 23, 2007