-
·
The cost of convenience in Japan: when foreign students work instead of study
It’s midnight at the convenience store I often patronize near my home in Tokyo’s central Shinjuku district. The store’s open all day and night, 365 days a year. There is one man I’ve seen quite a bit of lately — behind the counter, stocking shelves, carrying heavy boxes, cleaning, cooking food, ringing up purchases, barristering,…
-
·
Overtime deal marks total capitulation by labor
Full disclosure: I am the president of Tozen Union. Last October we joined the Japanese Trade Union Federation, known as Rengo. It is therefore with a heavy heart that this month I lambaste Rengo’s recent decision to agree to a policy I believe will endanger the health and lives of workers in Japan. Criticizing our…
-
·
労働組合は「過労死」の増産に手を貸すのか？ ～「残業上限月100時間」という狂気
レイバーペインズを読んでくださっている皆さんなら、日本の労働問題の最たるものが「長時間労働」、「過労死（自殺）」であることは重々承知だろう。にもかかわらず、ことあるごとに、労働法は時代遅れだとして、労働法の規制緩和をどんどん推し進めてきたのが他ならぬ現在の安倍政権なのだが、その安倍政権がなぜか去年から、残業時間の「上限」を法律で定めるべきだと主張し始めた。 このことは、政府がこれまでのバリバリの「規制緩和」から、「規制強化」路線へ180度方針転換したのか、とずいぶん騒がれたが、疑い深い私は、これには裏があるにちがいない、という気持ちが拭い去れなかった（このことは、2016年12月25日のLabor Painsでも述べている）。安倍首相は現在の財界トップである榊原定征（さかきばら さだゆき）経団連会長と親密な関係であり、自らの外遊にも連れていき、世界各国で日本企業を首相みずからが“トップセールス”するのだと自慢げに言っている。安倍首相が、自分の大切な「お友達」が多い経済界の締め付けを強めるようなことを本気でやるとはとても思えなかったのだ。
-
·
Japanese need to take more leave, starting with when beloved pets pass
Expedia Japan recently released the results of an annual survey that corroborates the stereotype many folks have of the Japanese worker: In short, their work is endless and breaks are few and far between. The travel company site surveyed 9,424 adults from 28 countries about paid holidays. You can see the full results here: bit.ly/yasumiheta. But…
-
·
Tokyo court rulings chip away at labor unions’ right to free speech
The Tokyo District Court handed down its verdict in the Fujibi case last February, with the Tokyo High Court upholding it in July. On both occasions, I couldn’t believe my ears. The courts ruled that labor union Zenrokyo Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo Rodo Kumiai (Tokyo Roso) had committed defamation and damaged the creditworthiness of Fujibi, a…
-
·
‘Five-year rule’ triggers ‘Tohoku college massacre’ of jobs
I have discussed the “five-year rule” several times before in this column — the revision of the Labor Contract Law (Rodo Keiyaku Ho) enacted in 2013. Under the amendment, any worker employed on serial fixed-term contracts (yūki koyō) for more than five years can give themselves permanent status. See my earlier stories for more details,…
-
·
Time to consign ‘death by overwork’ to Japan’s history
A 24-year-old pressured to work long, hard hours beyond what she could tolerate at the largest advertising agency in Japan jumped from her third-floor dorm room on Christmas Day of last year. This story went viral, and labor researchers around the country mumbled to themselves, “Dentsu again?” Dentsu is an ad giant notorious for brutal…
-
·
Sagamihara massacre begs question: Do we want a society that only values usefulness?
Let me apologize up front for tackling an issue that is not purely about labor per se. The brutal mass murder in July in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, made me feel that our society must address a simple yet difficult question: What does work mean to human beings? I feel that I must candidly convey to you,…
-
·
The flip side of coveted public-sector jobs in Japan: fewer rights
I research labor law and teach it to university students. In the first class, I break up the two groups of labor laws — those related to individual and collective labor relations — for my students. Individual labor relations law begins and ends with the 1947 Labor Standards Act (rōdō kijun hō); its collective counterpart…
-
·
Do Japan’s porn actresses and actors have labor rights?
On May 4, a tiny cafe in Tokyo’s Koenji neighborhood was transformed into an informal meeting hall. Porn-film kingpins (and a “queenpin”) had called an “emergency meeting” to respond to a recently released report by Human Rights Now (HRN). On March 3, the international NGO, which is based in Tokyo and has U.N. special consultative…