The General Union presents the 2024 hybrid symposium. All are welcome to join us on Zoom or in person at L-Osaka Sunday December 1st at 14:00 for an important discussion about migrant workers’ rights in Japan. RSVP your attendance, and information about the event at L-Osaka or a Zoom link will be sent to your email.
Japan, Country of Choice for Foreign Workers? – A discussion on the amendment to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law
Sunday December 1st at 14:00
L – Osaka Rm 9012 or Zoom
English & Japanese Translation provided
RSVP Your Attendance Online or In-person
Meet the speakers:
Masahito Nakai is an attorney focusing on labor law, immigration, and defamation. He is a member of the Japan Labor Lawyers Association, the Osaka Labor Lawyers Association, and the International Human Rights Division of the Human Rights Protection Committee of the Osaka Bar Association (division chair). He has worked on cases involving assaults by Osaka immigration officials, and the death of a detainee at the Nagoya Immigration Bureau.
He will be speaking on the amendment to the law as it relates to the revocation of permanent residence status. A person could lose their status for “intentional” arrears of pension, national or local tax, and breaches of the immigration law. This means that status could be lost for not carrying a residence card at all times, and has wide implications for all migrant workers in Japan.
Yukio Inoue is an activist from Fukuoka city, currently serving on the steering committee of the non-profit organization National Network in Solidarity with Migrants. He has 30 years experience working at the Board of Education and has worked in Japanese and Indonesian schools. He has fought extensively for the rights of workers in the Technical Intern Training Program. He will be speaking on the hardships faced by the workers within the program, which has been heavily criticized for providing little training, and being designed to supply Japanese industries experiencing labor shortages with a supply of cheap labor. Workers in the program have no freedom to change their jobs within the first 2 years of employment, and are not allowed to bring their families. The program has been abused by employers, leaving employees fearing dismissal would force them to leave the country.
Simon Cole is a part-time university teacher and permanent resident of Japan with British nationality. As a founding member of the General Union, he has been advocating for foreign workers’ rights for over 30 years. Following his speaking arrangement at the Osaka lawyer’s group, he will be speaking about how the changes to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law will affect permanent residents and what can be done about it.
RSVP Your Attendance Online or In-person
