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On October 28, DPJ Deputy Secretary General Makiko Kikuta took to the podium in a plenary session of the House of Representatives, posing questions regarding the Government-sponsored revisions of the Worker Dispatching Law.
Under the current provisions of the Worker Dispatching Law, the period of time that dispatch workers can be employed at the same workplace is “one year in principle, and three years maximum” except for twenty-six specific professions . Kikuta pointed out, “Revisions will allow a de facto abolition of the limit on dispatch workers’ period of employment in a particular workplace, and will enable companies to keep on using dispatch workers in the same role.”
Kikuta also commented on a new requirement that companies need to listen to the opinions of labor unions if they intend to keep on using dispatch workers after three years. Kikuta stated that nowadays only 20% of workers belong to labor unions and many companies do not even have labor unions, and criticized the revision, stating, “This new requirement has no teeth. This will just increase the number of ‘lifelong dispatch workers.’”
Kikuta referred to an Internet survey conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, which found that 60% of dispatch workers would like to become regular workers, and that only 4% of female part-time workers and dispatch workers are taking their childcare leave. Kikuta raised strong concerns, stating, “The proposed revisions of the law actually go against the measures for combating the declining birthrate and “Attractive Job-Creating for young people” which are stated aims of the Abe administration.” Kikuta asked what concrete measures were envisaged to support the career advancement of dispatch workers and their promotion to regular workers.”
Furthermore, Kikuta explained while in European countries dispatch work is considered to be “interim and temporary”, and “equal pay for equal work” is a general rule, in Japan hourly wages for dispatch workers are more than 500 yen lower than those of regular workers, and questioned the Abe administration, saying, “Why did you not make equal treatment compulsory when revising the law?”
At the end of her speech, Kikuta expressed her resolution, saying, “The DPJ must stop such worsening of the law’s provisions, which will be a de facto abolition of a fixed employment term for dispatch workers and will cause an increase in such workers, without guaranteeing equal pay for equal work. If passed this proposal would be implemented at the expense of women’s careers and turn our youth into expendable commodities. The DPJ will fight to scrap this bill.”
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