Revise Worker Dispatch Law and take legislative steps to prevent temporary workers from being thrown away

Japan Press Weekly

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

Revise Worker Dispatch Law and take legislative steps to prevent temporary workers from being thrown away

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on January 8 stressed the need to revoke the 1999 adverse revision of the Worker Dispatch Law that fundamentally eased regulations on the use of temporary workers and the need to prevent the ongoing arbitrary layoffs of temporary and other contingent workers.

Shii made the statement in regard to the recent moves by some government officials as well as the Democratic Party of Japan calling for a ban on the use of temporary workers in the manufacturing sector.

He said that these discussions about prohibiting contingent laborers from being used in the manufacturing industry are a "positive sign," which is a result of public pressure and workers' struggles.

The1999 revision of the Worker Dispatch Law removed the restrictions on the use of temporary workers in such professions as interpreters and tour conductors. This made the use of "disposable labor" prevalent.

Shii said, "In order to prevent another political catastrophe of mass dismissals of contingent workers, the law should be revised to what it was before the liberalization."

Concerning an expected situation in which more workers will be forced out of their jobs after their contracts expire at the end of March, Shii said, "It is essential to take effective measures to prevent large corporations from firing such a large number of contingent workers, while drastically revising the Worker Dispatch Law."

Shii spoke out against Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) Chairman Mitarai Fujio for hinting at the possible introduction of a work-sharing system. Shii said, "Before that, Nippon Keidanren should urge its member corporations to stop sacking contingent workers."

Shii went on to say, "Using contingent workers' job security as pretext, large corporations are going to cut the wages and salaries of all workers. They will never spend any of their money to protect jobs."

He added, "Large corporations should use their internal reserves of 230 trillion yen to maintain jobs. An attempt to reduce wages in the name of work-sharing is totally unjustifiable."

- Akahata January 9, 2009