Kurdish man, Filipino wife granted special residence permission after overstaying visas

by

The Justice Ministry has decided to grant special residence permission to a Kurdish man, his Filipino wife and their 7-year-old daughter, overturning its earlier decision to deport the couple for overstaying their visas.

The ministry’s move came after the Tokyo High Court suggested a settlement in the case in which the family’s request to nullify the ministry’s order to deport them had been turned down by the Tokyo District Court.

“After the high court proposed a settlement, we determined that this would be the best way to grant them special residence permission from a humanitarian perspective,” said Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama during a press conference following a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080325p2a00m0na009000c.html

Arudo Debito Book Tour

by

Author and activist Arudo Debito will be speaking at Tokyo Nambu HQ on Sunday, March 16, at 5:00, about his new book, “Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants, and Immigrants to
Japan”. Read on to find out more, and come to Nambu on Sunday night to talk to the author in person.

“HANDBOOK FOR NEWCOMERS, MIGRANTS, AND IMMIGRANTS TO JAPAN”
ISBN: 978-4-7503-2741-9
Authors: HIGUCHI Akira and ARUDOU Debito
Languages: English and Japanese (on corresponding pages)
Publisher: Akashi Shoten Inc., Tokyo
372 Pages. Price: 2300 yen (2415 yen after tax)
Goal: To help non-Japanese entrants become residents and immigrants
Topics: Securing stable visas, Establishing businesses and secure jobs, Resolving legal problems, Planning for the future from entry into Japan to death.

TABLE OF CONTENTS AND PREFACE (excerpts)

Migration of labor is an unignorable reality in this globalizing world. Japan is no exception. In recent years, Japan has had record numbers of registered foreigners, international marriages, and people receiving permanent residency. This guidebook is designed to help non-Japanese
settle in Japan, and become more secure residents and contributors to Japanese society.

Japan is one of the richest societies in the world, with an extremely high standard of living. People will want to come here. They are doing so. Japan, by the way, wants foreigners too. Prime Ministerial cabinet reports, business federations, and the United Nations have advised
more immigration to Japan to offset its aging society, low birthrate, labor shortages, and
shrinking tax base. Unfortunately, the attitude of the Japanese government towards immigration has generally been one of neglect. Newcomers are not given
sufficient guidance to help them settle down in Japan as residents with
stable jobs and lifestyles. HANDBOOK wishes to fill that gap….

LABOUR-JAPAN: Foreign Workers’ Grievances Erupt At Rally

by

With its own population both aging and declining, Japan needs migrant workers to sustain its economy. But the government?s failure to formulate an accommodative policy was evident at a rally in the capital on Sunday attended by some 300 foreign workers.

Waving banners and shouting slogans such as “stop discrimination against foreign workers” and “Japanese look at us like we?re terrorists,?? workers from different parts of the globe marched through the capital?s Shibuya district.

Protestors from the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa heard angry speeches over a variety of grouses and frustrations, such as a trend towards hiring the cheapest available foreign labour and exploit it to the maximum.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41521

Foreign workers rally in Tokyo for equal rights, job security

by

Angry and frustrated, nearly 300 foreign residents of Japan rallied in the streets of central Tokyo Sunday to demand equal rights and job security. At the fourth annual demonstration, workers from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas spoke about unfair treatment they received on the job in Japan. South Korea’s song for democracy, “Great China” and “Venceremos” echoed in a park in the trendy Tokyo district of Shibuya, where demonstrators gathered before they took to the streets.

“We must take matters in our own hands and raise awareness of the problems foreign workers face in Japan,” said Satoshi Murayama of the Kanagawa City Union, whose members come mostly from Latin America.

While Japan has accepted an increasing number of foreign workers, many employment problems have been reported.

“In Japan, companies hire foreign workers as cheap labour, and that has to stop,” Zentoitsu unionist Ippei Torii said. Torii has received many phone calls from trainees who were brought from China to work at farms or factories in the outskirts of Tokyo for 300 yen (2.9 dollars) to 500 yen an hour.

Zentoitsu has 2,600 of its total 3,600 members from outside of Japan.

Ali Nusrat from Pakistan is currently asking his company to pay worker’s compensation for burns on his hands. He was working at a bread-making company after he retired from a factory filling lunch boxes for five years for 750 yen per hour.

Tony Dolan said he was on strike for two weeks demanding social security benefits from a company where he worked for 12 years as a full-time teacher. The US citizen holds a permanent visa and has lived in Japan for 13 years.

Last year, Japan’s largest English school went bankrupt and hundreds of teachers, mostly from Australia, were laid off.

A Japanese onlooker agreed with the foreign workers’ demand for equal rights because he said they are forced to bear worse working conditions than most Japanese people.

“Some Japanese people try to ignore the problems faced by foreign residents, but we should all know about the issue and think about it,” he said.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/191002,foreign-workers-rally-in-tokyo-for-equal-rights-job-security.html

Foreign workers rally in Shibuya for equal rights

by

JOB SECURITY, SOCIAL INSURANCE DEMANDED

Foreign workers staged a rally in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, on Sunday as part of their annual spring labor offensive, calling for proper and equal treatment on par with Japanese working conditions.

Hundreds of people from various countries gathered in Miyashita Park for the afternoon “March in March” event.

“Employers must begin to treat foreigners as equal as Japanese and give them job security and equality,” said Louis Carlet, deputy general secretary of the National Union of General Workers Tokyo Nambu, which jointly organized the rally with Japanese labor unions.

Before the march, music and sports performances were staged at Miyashita Park, and keynote speeches were given by representatives from various labor unions.

Around 3 p.m., the participants, foreign and Japanese, left the park and began marching down the middle of Meiji Boulevard, chanting demands for improved working conditions and saying “no” to discrimination, including mandatory fingerprinting for foreigners upon entering Japan.

The props for the rally included not only signs and flags, but also a casket to draw attention to the failure of Nova Corp., the giant language-school chain that went bust last year, leaving thousands of teachers jobless.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080310a2.html

Fukuda calls for wage raises to boost economy

by

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda urged companies Thursday to raise wages in a rare move by a government leader amid intensifying annual labor-management wage talks.

“I think now is the time when the fruits of reform should be passed on to the people and household budgets,” Fukuda said in a weekly e-mail magazine released Thursday.

Fukuda, who is facing sagging support rates, is apparently seeking to soothe public disgruntlement over hikes in crude oil and materials prices that are putting pressure on household budgets.

Noting that the economy has undergone a recovery in recent years, with major companies making record profits, Fukuda said, “These are the achievements of various structural reforms and the result of efforts by all of you people who struggled with and endured the pain of the reforms.”

Fukuda stressed that pay hikes “will lead to much bigger profits for companies as the economy will expand as a whole if consumption increases through higher wages.”

Companies and household budgets are closely connected, he said.

Fukuda told reporters in late January that improvements in labor conditions are a “plus factor” for household budgets and the nation’s economic situation.
Fukuda stressed that pay hikes “will lead to much bigger profits for companies as the economy will expand as a whole if consumption increases through higher wages.”

Companies and household budgets are closely connected, he said.

Fukuda told reporters in late January that improvements in labor conditions are a “plus factor” for household budgets and the nation’s economic situation.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20080307a1.html

Fukuda urges employers to raise workers’ wages

by

In a rare move, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has urged employers to raise workers’ wages as Japan’s economy continues to expand.

“Now is the time when the fruits of reform should be passed on to people as wages,” he said in his e-mail magazine delivered on Thursday.

“Japan’s economy has been growing over the past several years. Businesses, particularly major companies, are making big profits well above those during the ‘bubble economy.’ These are the results of efforts made by people who endured the pain of structural reform and worked hard,” he said.

Fukuda pointed out that companies will profit if they raise wages for workers and increase consumer spending. “I believe that business leaders also feel the necessity of wage hikes. The government has urged top business leaders to increase wages.”

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080306p2a00m0na005000c.html

SAITU Strikes Back at Simul International

by

This week marks the first week of industrial action at language school Simul International, the first in its history. Tony and his fellow members have shown tremendous courage with surgical strikes nearly every day on the demand to be enrolled in Shakai Hoken health and pension.

Foreign workers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of enrollment in Shakai Hoken health and pension schemes. In addition to a legal obligation for both employer and employee, it is an important protection in the event of injury or illness. Employees in Shakai Hoken also tend to be treated more like real, permanent employees, meaning it provides a modicum of job security on top of income and health security.

McDonald’s faces fresh lawsuit on overtime pay

by

Two former managers of McDonald’s Co. (Japan) Ltd. plan to file a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court in March demanding the hamburger chain pay them ¥7 million in unpaid overtime allowances, sources close to the matter have said.

The move comes on the heels of a court ruling on a similar lawsuit filed by a McDonald’s manager from Saitama Prefecture. In late January, the court ruled that the manager had little authority as an managerial-level employee and deserved overtime pay in accordance with the Labor Standards Law.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20080302a1.html

Japan’s gender inequality puts it to shame in world rankings

by

When it comes to gender equality, Japan has no shortage of distressing figures.

The statistics that are most often used to illustrate the nation’s dismal status in this respect are the United Nations Development Program’s Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), which gauges equality by tracking women’s participation in politics and business.

In 2007, Japan’s GEM was ranked 54th out of 93 countries, compared with Australia’s 8th ranking, Germany’s 9th, Canada’s 10th, Britain’s 14th and the United States’ 15th. Among Asian peers, Japan’s rank was significantly lower than Singapore’s (16th), while China and South Korea both trailed Japan at 57th and 64th, respectively.

Women in power are particularly few and far between, with only 9.4 percent of parliamentary seats here being occupied by women, which puts the nation in the disgraceful position of being ranked 131st out of 189 countries surveyed.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20080224x1.html