Japan Press Weekly

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2008 September 17 - 23 [LABOR]

Shii talks with temporary workers at Toyota

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on September 14 had a meeting in Nagoya City with temporary and fixed-term workers working at Toyota Motor Co. and related companies with the aim of hearing about the working conditions of contingent workers at the global auto maker.

Shii said, “At the House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting in February, I exposed the harsh treatment of temporary workers at Canon. The world’s top automaker Toyota also routinely uses contingent workers as ‘disposable workers’. I would like to know about their real conditions and demands.”

A temporary worker said, “Fixed-term workers are told that they will be dismissed after their contract expires after 35 months. I feel uneasy about my future.”

Another worker said, “We are paid on a daily basis, so our income decreases by 50,000-60,000 yen during the summer and year-end lay-off periods.”

At the end of the meeting, Shii encouraged the workers by stating, “At present, together with various workers’ struggles, parliamentary activities by Japanese Communist Party representatives have pushed the government to regulate the use of contingent workers. We will do all we can to pave the way for temporary and fixed-term workers to be promoted to full-time positions.”