Labour Update Bulletin #173

Sep 9, 2023

This bulletin contains information on law changes that have either passed, or are being discussed, in parliament, court decisions, and other labor issues in Japan that are of interest to activists.

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In this bulletin:

  • Minimum wage: national average tops 1,000 yen for first time — revised amount up 43 to 1,004 yen
  • Abolish the “no overtime pay” Special Measures Act, says labor lawyers’ group: teachers’ work-style reform
  • Photographer recognized to be a “worker”: problem of “fake freelancing”
  • “Abnormal state of dispute” between bus company and union; Sapporo Superior Court rules dismissal “invalid”
  • Overtime unpaid? Notice issued calling for improvement for part-time teachers at elementary and junior-high schools in Gifu
  • Teachers at long-established French language school go on strike: to be fired unless they accept new contract — school says “regrettable”
  • Men with intellectual disabilities in a state of “slave labor”: suit seeks damages against cattle farm and city of Eniwa, Hokkaido
  • Ikea fails to pay for changing time; will pay starting September 2023
  • Strike goes forward, Seibu Ikebukuro store lies quiet: voices heard in support
  • Most jobs have low possibility of complete replacement by AI: ILO
  • Income gap widens: 2021 Gini coefficient nearly same as previous high record
  • “Summary of Reiwa 4 [2022] Statistical Survey of Labor Disputes” Aug. 23, 2023, MHWL
  • Cut back excessive lesson numbers, rethink school events: emergency proposal for overworked teachers
  • July unemployment rate at 2.7%, worsening for the first time in four months; women’s unemployment rate goes up
  • 53.3% of private universities short of new students, over half for the first time; student-to-space ratio lowest ever

And more!!

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