Union and party representatives hold rally calling for drastic revision of Worker Dispatch Law

   Representatives of labor unions and the ruling and opposition parties took part in a rally on January 30 calling for a drastic revision of the Worker Dispatch Law in the Upper House Members’ Office Building.

   Members of the Japanese Communist Party and other parties and organizations, including the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren), presented their proposals and called on the participants to join hands in order to get the law revised.

   Sekine Shuichiro, secretary general of a temporary workers’ union, said that although Goodwill, a major staffing agency notorious for illegal labor practices, deserves to be ordered to suspend its business operations, temporary workers who registered with the company have become unable to find jobs and are hardly able to survive since its suspension.

   Goodwill was ordered to suspend its operations earlier this month due to its illegal practices, including the dispatch of temporary workers to port transport jobs and “double dispatches”.

Sekine stressed that the Labor Dispatch Law needs to be revised so that employers will be allowed to use temporary workers only in special circumstances and that they must be permanently employed by staffing agencies.

   JCP House of Councilors member Koike Akira presented the JCP proposal which includes tight regulations on short-term dispatches of workers by staffing agencies. Koike said that the Worker Dispatch Law must be turned into a law to protect temporary workers by requiring employers to eventually offer full-time positions and treat temporary workers equally with regular workers. He expressed determination to achieve a drastic revision of the law.

   Representatives of the Democratic, Social Democratic, and People’s New parties also said that they are considering the need for revision of the law. A member of the ruling Komei Party pointed out the need to revise the law as a whole.
- Akahata, January 31, 2008