Shii requests that Keidanren urge its member companies to stop massive job cuts

Japan Press Weekly

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Shii requests that Keidanren urge its member companies to stop massive job cuts

Amid the ongoing massive dismissals of contingent workers (temporary workers and fixed-term contract workers) Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on December 18 met with Tanaka Kiyoshi, senior managing director of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) Secretariat, at a Tokyo hotel to request that the business organization urge its member companies to cancel their massive job cut plans.

Shii handed Tanaka a letter to Nippon Keidanren Chairman Mitarai Fujio (For the full text see separate item).

Receiving the request, Tanaka said that Nippon Keidanren does not concern itself with members’ job cut plans and reiterated, “The earliest possible economic recovery is needed to stabilize employment.”

Shii pointed out that Nippon Keidanren’s “Charter of Corporate Behavior” calls on its members “to respect human rights”, “to conduct themselves in a socially responsible manner,” and “to respect diversity, individuality and differences in their employees.”

Tanaka in reply said, “Yes, our Charter states this, but sometimes we need to make tough decisions.”

As for the “December 9 directive” issued by the Labor Ministry to the prefectural Labor Bureaus to prevent illegal dismissals of temporary and fixed-term contract workers, Tanaka said, “Nippon Keidanren calls for compliance with relevant laws, including this recent Labor Ministry directive.”

Shii asked, “You are saying, ‘Economic recovery is necessary for employment stability.’ Don’t you recognize that if large corporations compete with each other to sack a large number of workers, it will only throw the country’s economy into a downward spiral?”

Tanaka answered, “But if business entities cannot continue to exist, we lose not only recovery but everything.”

Shii said, “By using only part of their internal reserves, employment can be maintained.”

In response, Tanaka just said, “We take that as your opinion.”

“Amid the global economic crisis, the corporate job cutting spree will destroy Japan’s economic base,” Shii said.

After meeting with Nippon Keidanren’s executives, Shii held a news conference and expressed his determination “to keep on striving to put an end to massive dismissals.”

The meeting was also attended by Nippon Keidanren’s Secretariat Managing Director Kawamoto Hiroyasu, JCP Diet Policy Commission Chair Kokuta Keiji, and JCP House of Representatives Yoshii Hidekatsu.

- Akahata, December 19, 2008