Information on the resolution ("worker dispatching") KSU English Debate Exchange 2009 November 3 Resolved: Japan should prohibit worker dispatching Newspaper Articles from The Japan Times online (searched on Oct. 4, 2009) compiled by Professor Kamada Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009 ELECTION 2009 Party platforms offer no quick fix to job woes By NATSUKO FUKUE Staff writer Fourth in a series With the unemployment rate hitting 5.4 percent in June, experts doubt the labor policies pledged by either the ruling bloc or the Democratic Party of Japan in their platforms for the Aug. 30 election will stave off layoffs anytime soon. Bread line: Jobless people and temp workers who spent the yearend holiday season in a tent village in Tokyo's Hibiya Park wait to receive hot meals provided by nonprofit organizations on Jan. 5. KYODO PHOTO The Lower House election comes as calls grow, particularly from the growing ranks of axed temporary workers, for radical change in government labor policy. "I want the government to change the worker dispatch law from a law that disposes of employees to one that protects them," said Hiroyuki Sato, a former temp worker at truck maker Hino Motors Ltd. The government should reinstate the ban on dispatching temp workers to the manufacturing industry, he said. To help stabilize the employment situation for temp workers, who tend to be the first let go when the economy turns sour, the Democratic Party of Japan promises in its campaign platform to revive the ban against sending temp workers to manufacturers. The DPJ, the Social Democratic Party and Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party) submitted a bill to revise the worker dispatch law in June, but it was scrapped when Prime Minister Taro Aso, the Liberal Democratic Party president, dissolved the Lower House July 21. Sato supports this ban because he was a disposable worker whose contract was terminated after 3 1/2 years. He started working at a Hino Motors factory in June 2005, then became a seasonal worker because companies are required to directly hire temp workers after three years. But due to the global financial crisis he was dismissed last year. "I was told to leave a dorm on Jan. 1. I was furious that the company forced me to over work as much as they could and then discarded me," he said. His employment status changed from a contractual to a temporary basis and then to seasonal. He never got the chance to become a regular employee. Hoping to provide a safety net to nonregular workers like Sato, the DPJ is also promising to extend unemployment insurance to both regular and temp workers currently not covered due to their short-term contracts, prohibit contracts shorter than two months, and carry out a survey on poverty — something that has not been done since 1965.

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According to an estimate by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, nonregular workers who have been axed since last October or will be by next month will number 229,170. As manufacturers downsize their production due to the global recession, many nonregular factory workers have lost their job and accommodations at the same time because manufacturers often provide housing near their factories. As soon as they're laid off, they become homeless, said Mitsuo Nakamura, who worked as a day laborer in Tokyo's Sanya district for 25 years. "The number of homeless in Tokyo doubled since last autumn. "In Shinjuku, homeless people who turn out for free food jumped from 300 to 600," he said. "Of course those former temp workers don't have (unemployment) insurance, and don't have a place to live." According to senior economist Taro Saito of Nippon Life Insurance Research Institute, the DPJ's plan to offer unemployment insurance to such temp workers is a step in the right direction. "It is a problem that temp workers are not entitled to unemployment insurance, which was originally designed for regular employees," he said. "Currently, the gap between the employment conditions of regular and nonregular workers is huge." Saito voiced hope that the next administration acts to close this gap. But he also said banning the dispatch of temps to manufacturers will not be a good policy for nonregular workers. "Companies are less likely to hire regular workers instead of temp workers because it will be too costly. I know the DPJ's labor policy is for preventing companies from laying off temp workers. It may stop layoffs but also employment," he said. Contrary to the DPJ's goal, this could encourage manufacturers to look for cheap labor overseas, he added. Saito also noted that the DPJ's insurance-for-all policy, if it covers all workers, will be a disincentive for manufacturers to hire temps because companies would have to pay jobless insurance premiums. Meanwhile, the long-ruling LDP has pledged to combat unemployment by generating more jobs instead of introducing tougher regulations on the temp dispatch law and expanding the scope of unemployment insurance. The LDP's platform states that it will provide financial support to companies that suffer losses but retain redundant workers, and offer similar incentives to companies in rural areas with little employment opportunities if they start new businesses by hiring laid-off workers. The LDP also hopes to increase employment in the medical, welfare and child care industries. Yasuhide Yajima, senior economist at NLI Research institute, calls the LDP's labor policy unrealistic. "Japan has been implementing economic growth strategies, but the employment situation hasn't improved. If the government cannot create more employment now, how can it do so in the future (via the same strategy)?" Makoto Yuasa, a social activist and an organizer of the Hibiya Park tent village, said at an antipoverty campaign meeting last month that economic growth is no longer a cure for poverty. "If poverty spreads while the economy grows, we have to question what the economic growth is for," he said.

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But even if the DPJ ousts the LDP from power, economic think tanks estimate the unemployment rate will keep soaring toward year's end, Yajima said. "Companies may see higher profits by cutting costs and not investing in plants and equipment, but their sales are dropping sharply," he said, offering no prediction on when the job situation might improve. In this series, we take a close look at possible changes under a DPJ-led government and compare them with current policies under LDP rule. Vocational training LDP: Provide 1 million people with vocational training in three years, and offer trainees housing and livelihood support. DPJ: Provide financial support to laid-off temp workers and the unemployed without benefits who are in vocational training. Safety net for temp workers LDP: Ban dispatching temp workers on a daily basis, encourage long-term employment and amend the labor dispatch law. DPJ: Apply employment insurance to all workers. Ban dispatching temp workers on a daily basis and to manufacturing industries, encourage long-term employment and prohibit contracts shorter than two months. Creating employment LDP: Provide financial support to create employment in rural areas and in the medical, welfare, child care and environment sectors. Encourage employment of people in their 60s by offering counseling and training. Support the employment of young people and women LDP: Assist young part-time workers to become regular employees. Establish a support system for companies hiring mothers who are still raising children. Poverty DPJ: Survey the situation. Try to up minimum wage to ¥1,000. Sunday, July 19, 2009 EDITORIAL Temp worker casualties A new report by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry revealed that 5,631 dispatch workers were injured or killed in work-related accidents in 2008. Most of these were injured after being sent to temporary jobs in the manufacturing industry, which accounted for two-thirds of the accidents. The transportation industry was responsible for another 10 percent of injured temps. The rate of 15 serious accidents per day shakes the very idea of Japan as a safe place to work, and reveals a different view of the idea of temporary labor in the new economy. In 2008, the number of dispatch workers killed while working fell slightly to 31, still a startling number to consider. A lesser number of knife killings would receive front-page coverage for weeks, but the report on workplace deaths is relegated to back pages. The only reason those numbers are down from 2007 is that the total number of temp workers fell. The demise of staffing agencies such as Goodwill Inc. and the general economic downturn seem to have had the effect of reducing temps' work-related deaths. Especially disturbing is that most workers were injured within three months of starting the position. That is, the

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cause of most injuries was related to limited experience. This figure, too, goes against the generally accepted idea of Japan as a country where it is safe to work. Clearly, when dispatch workers go to companies for short periods, they may not be sufficiently informed of workplace dangers. When those workers continually are dispatched to different workplaces one after another, the problem is compounded. The past relaxation of the labor dispatch law is a complex issue, but the regulations should include basic safety measures and adequate training. The large signs hanging at most workplaces proclaiming "Safety First" do not seem to be having an effect for many temporary workers. All workplaces can be kept safer with adequate protections, training and information. The number of temp workers could rise rapidly if and when the economy recovers. The government must ensure that all workers — full-time, part-time, temporary — have a safe place to work. Friday, Feb. 27, 2009 'Temp' protests warp face of egalitarian Japan Inc. Fallout from firing contract workers underlines dangers of new culture of convenience By YURI KAGEYAMA The Associated Press Fired engine plant worker Kouichirou Fukudome shouts slogans with dozens of protesters outside truck maker Isuzu's towering headquarters, all demanding they get their jobs back. Once unheard-of in Japan, such protests are becoming more common as thousands of "temporary" workers — who often had steady jobs for years under various contracts — get fired by major companies like Sony and Toyota just as the global economic slump makes it unlikely they'll find substitute work anytime soon. The layoffs are a new phenomenon in a nation long known for its tacit guarantee of lifetime employment. The mass firings are creating broader social problems, including homelessness, with an inadequate safety net to handle them, because temporary workers can be forced out of company dormitories. Some find refuge in 24-hour Internet cafes; others return to the rural towns they once fled in search of employment. Fukudome, 47, worked for seven years at Isuzu on successive short-term contracts. He is upset that nonproduction employees have replaced him on the assembly line, simply because they are permanent workers who cannot be easily fired. "There are a lot of them who aren't doing anything," he said. "I wouldn't buy an Isuzu now. They're being made by amateurs." His battle is an outgrowth of a major shift in the world's second-largest economy in employment practices, emerged in the 1980s but only became widespread after the government formally legalized it in manufacturing in 2004. Global competition has driven Japan to create this new class of contract workers. Many of them work full time, but they are less well paid, have fewer benefits and are widely looked down on by others. And as the economy sours, they are being laid off. In recent months, Sony Corp. announced 8,000 job cuts, Toyota Motor Corp. 3,000, Isuzu Motors Ltd. 1,400, Honda Motor Co. 3,100 — all so-called temporary workers — and the government predicts some 125,000 of these people will be jobless by March. In recent years the number of people working on contracts or on a part-time basis, which includes a much

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broader group of employees, has grown to 17.8 million, or about a third of the workforce. The disparity in treatment between contract and regular employees threatens to divide the society, widening the gap between the haves and have-nots in a country that for much of the postwar era has prided itself as a land of equality. In previous downturns, Japanese companies coped by holding down wages, freezing employment and cutting costs, but there were few outright layoffs. A new twist to this recession is the plight of these temporary workers — known as "haken" (referred by an agency) or "kikan-jugyouin" (contract worker). As more are laid off, the unemployment rate of 4.4 percent — still low by Western standards is likely to climb. Kenichi Furuya, 23, whose work history since the age of 18 includes stints at noodle shops, in real estate sales and at discount chains, believes contract workers are unfairly treated. "It's unforgivable for a nation to have all these people who can't find jobs," he said. The growing numbers of jobless haken workers have led to broader social problems like homelessness that critics say Japan is ill-equipped to handle. Those who have been kicked out of company housing have sought shelter and free meals at soup kitchens. Others stay at 24-hour cafes featuring "manga" comic books or Internet access. Earlier this year, tents were pitched at a Tokyo park dubbed Haken Village, where the homeless could get New Year's rice cakes, job counseling and medical checkups while government offices were closed for the holidays. The village was moved for a few days to a government gymnasium and closed after government offices reopened Jan. 5. For years, the problems of temporary workers weren't properly understood because the status was initially used for students and housewives, working part time, said Shigeru Wakita, a law professor at Ryukoku University who advises the unemployed. "Now, people realize their working conditions are an important problem," he said. More broadly, temporary workers have created a lower working class that has stratified Japanese society and widened the wealth gap. The monthly wage for full-fledged workers averages about ¥350,000, 40 percent better than temporary workers' ¥210,000. That disparity grows when figuring the lack of bonus pay, pension and other benefits. Many temporary workers also suffer emotional hardships because they are often treated as losers, said Ryoichi Miki, secretary general of the All Japan Metal and Information Machinery Workers Union. "The worst thing is that they are treated like they are things, not human beings," Miki said. Typically, contract workers get stuck in their lower status because companies only rarely promote them to full time. "They are discriminated against in the workplace," said Takashi Araki, law professor at the University of Tokyo. "It is very difficult in Japan to make the move to full time."

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Japan's corporate chieftains defend the use of temporary workers as an effective cost-saver. Without them, Japan runs the risk of losing even more jobs to China, India and elsewhere, proponents say. "It is not easy in Japan to reduce full-time workers," Honda President Takeo Fukui told reporters recently. "But protecting employment isn't the only duty of a company. It has to maintain a sound business." Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009 Temps in manufacturing: Safety valve, but no net By HIROKO NAKATA and NATSUKO FUKUE Staff writers A day before Christmas, temporary worker Yoshinori Sato, 49, received his dismissal notice from Isuzu Motor Co. He can stay at a company dormitory until the end of this month. Beyond that, his fate and income are question marks. "Politicians do not understand how horrible our situation is," Sato said. "They should have established a safety net a long time ago." He feels firms should be required to turn temporary workers into permanent employees after a certain interval. On the recent political debate over reregulating the dispatch of temp workers, however, he said employment in manufacturing is fine as long as there is a safety net to help people who are suddenly let go as the economy tanks. He wants to continue working at an Isuzu factory, but that prospect may hinge on a possible government attempt to reinstate the ban on temp workers being sent to manufacturing industries. "The number of unemployed workers will increase" if companies cannot hire temporary staff, said Taro Saito, a senior economist at NLI Research Institute. If manufacturing companies are barred from hiring temporary staff, they will have to lay off full-time workers to cut labor costs when the economy sours, like at present, he said. Government regulation of temp workers started in 1986. They were mainly allowed to engage in clerical work, because at the time it was thought this would provide more opportunities for people seeking part-time work, including housewives raising children, analysts said. Deregulation in 2004 allowed manufacturing firms to hire temporary staff. It was a time when companies needed to slash excessive labor costs amid a decade-long economic slowdown that started in the 1990s. Employers also needed to pare labor costs to survive harsh price competition with emerging economies in Asia and other regions. With the relaxed labor dispatch law, the number of temp workers jumped to 3.84 million in fiscal 2007 from 1.07 million in fiscal 1997, according to the labor ministry. Temp workers engaged in manufacturing numbered 460,672 in fiscal 2007. Business leaders had upheld the temp worker system as beneficial both to workers and employers until recently. "When it works, the system gives workers options. And corporations can be flexible in their human resources strategies," Tadashi Okamura, chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told reporters Jan. 6.

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Masamitsu Sakurai, chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai), agreed. "It is a meaningful system both for workers and manufacturers to hire temp staff, and that has meant a lot," he said. However, having the convenience to hire temp workers created an unstable — and at times dangerous — situation, particularly when temps are not provided sufficient training on workplace hazards. The relaxed labor dispatch law has seen a surge in nonpermanent workers killed or injured on the job, particularly in manufacturing, rising to 5,885 in 2007 from 667 in 2004. Now with the global financial crunch, temp workers find themselves in a precarious state in terms of livelihood. They are the first to be axed. According to the labor ministry, 85,000 nonpermanent workers — 96 percent of them in manufacturing — have either been or will be laid off by March. Temp workers in manufacturing who lose their jobs in many cases also lose their housing, because it has been provided by the manufacturers. This point was driven home over the yearend holidays, when some 500 jobless people, mainly idled temps, gathered in Tokyo's Hibiya Park to seek shelter and food. Sakurai, who acknowledges that hiring temp workers has its merits, also says that companies should not take the easy recourse of just axing them when market demand, and hence production, heads south. The government must also step in and make sure those who lose jobs have financial protection. Before the temp staff system debuted, companies faced difficulty in cutting labor costs because their workers were guaranteed lifetime employment. Many firms offered early retirement over the past decade by paying extra money to those who agreed to exit early, but this was a time-consuming and expensive strategy. The Democratic Party of Japan wants strict limits placed on temps working in manufacturing, but business lobbies oppose it. "Banning temp workers at manufacturing firms would be going too far," Sakurai said. "We should establish a safety net (for them) instead." Saito noted that curbing temps in manufacturing would not have a positive impact on the economy. Companies instead should narrow the gap between the salaries and working environments of full-timers and temp workers, he said. Fujio Mitarai, chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), said Jan. 6 the country needs to consider work-sharing programs. "To solve the current labor problems, the corporate sector should create a safety net together with the government and take every step to expand employment. The idea of work-sharing is one option for a company that needs to adjust employment," he said. Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008 System under stress at Toyota / Criticism is surfacing about the potential social costs of the carmaker's labor practices By YURI KAGEYAMA The Associated Press

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TOYOTA, Aichi Pref. (AP) Toyota Motor Corp. has long boasted a stellar reputation for super-efficient production that has become the lore of countless business success books. But recently, criticism is starting to surface in Japan about the potential social costs of the company's prized — and virtually uncriticized — labor practices. Over the past year, the deaths of two Toyota employees were determined by law to have been caused by overwork. Then in June, a downtown Tokyo stabbing spree by a disgruntled worker at a Toyota subsidiary stunned Japan. The vehicle and knife rampage, which left seven dead, prompted further public scrutiny of the leading automaker. Some questioned whether its aggressive cost cuts were putting a stressful squeeze on its employees. Much of the emerging criticism can be applied to Japanese companies in general, and Toyota is far from being the worst offender. But Toyota stands out as the nation's model company and has been widely praised for turning worker empowerment into a key driver of sales and profit growth. Whether these incidents are just bumps in the road or a harbinger of change at the automaker — and Japan overall — remains to be seen. A book published last year, "The Dark Side of Toyota," paints a bleak picture of Toyota workers who are deprived of personal time and forced to live up to the expectations of dedication and loyalty that journalists Masahiro Watanabe and Masaaki Hayashi compare with brainwashing. "Workers .. . . aren't machines. They get sick. And they make mistakes," the book reads in part. "But the Toyota System fails to recognize any of that. It appears to be an extremely rational system. But it is, in fact, totally irrational." The National Labor Committee, a New York-based human rights organization that usually focuses on sweatshops in developing countries, weighed in earlier this year with a scathing report on Toyota, including what it said was abuse of temporary workers. Toyota denied the allegations. The criticisms, not unique to Toyota, are twofold. One is the growing use of temporary agency workers, such as the man arrested for the June killing rampage in the Akihabara district. The practice, driven by the pressure to reduce costs amid global competition, is a major break with the tradition of lifetime employment practiced at major companies. Union man: Tadao Wakatsuki, a Toyota assembly line worker who is organizing a new union that will include temporary workers, is interviewed in Chiryu, Aichi prefecture, in July. AP PHOTO The "haken," which means "dispatched" in Japanese, generally get lower pay, few benefits and can be laid off at any time. Unable to afford rent, some haken workers sleep in semiprivate booths at Internet cafes. Many feel like outcasts from society because of the pressure to conform and the history of lifetime employment. The other issue is Japan's infamous workaholic culture. Workers, especially the more competent ones, get leaned on, sometimes to their physical and emotional breaking points. The worst cases end in "karoshi," or death from overwork. Kenichi Uchino, a 30-year-old Toyota quality control worker, collapsed at the flagship Tsutsumi plant near Toyota headquarters in 2002, dying of heart failure. His 38-year-old widow, Hiroko Uchino, said her husband frequently worked past midnight. Typically, after a few hours' sleep, he awoke to eat breakfast with his two children before heading back to work, she recalled, adding that she is speaking out in hopes it will bring about change.

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"With all the profit Toyota is making, it's not going to go bankrupt if it allows its workers to lead human lives," Uchino said in an interview at her home near the city of Toyota, showing family photographs and the detailed diagrams her husband had drawn for quality control meetings. "Toyota may be No. 1 in vehicle production and sales, but I don't think it's No. 1 in much else," she said. In November, the Nagoya District Court ruled Uchino died of overwork, doing more than 100 hours of overtime a month — much of it unpaid — including so-called voluntary quality control meetings held after regular work hours. Sudden deaths from brain and heart disorders are classified as karoshi if linked to extremely long hours and on-the-job stress. Any case involving a worker who clocked more than 45 hours of overtime a month is seen as possible karoshi. Last year, 392 deaths were declared as karoshi nationwide, up 10 percent from the previous year, according to the health ministry. Compensation is paid to the surviving family members out of a government-administered pool funded by companies. Spouses receive about half the worker's annual salary, and more if they have children. Uchino's widow receives about ¥4.4 million a year in compensation. Earlier this year, a second Toyota employee, a 45-year-old engineer under pressure to develop a hybrid version of the Camry, was found to have died from overwork in 2006. The automaker has issued public statements of condolence to the families and promised to improve its monitoring of workers' health. Spurred in large part by Uchino's death, Toyota also has begun paying overtime for quality control meetings. "We must always try to improve the workplace, keeping in mind respect for each and every individual," Toyota spokesman Hideaki Homma said. "The fundamental principle is that we must foremost value an overall sense of trust — between management and workers as well as among workers." Toyota has been praised for decades for perfecting a management philosophy that empowered the factory floor worker and sought to produce close teamwork. "The Toyota Production System is based upon respect for people and the constant challenge to do better," said Bill Schwartz of TBM Consulting Group, a Durham, N.C.-based company that helps U.S. companies adopt Toyota's production methods. "Most employees who work in this environment feel 'part of the team' and don't feel forced to work." But Mikio Mizuno, a lawyer who has handled karoshi cases, says the deep corporate loyalty Japanese workers feel can lead to emotional stress. The push for perfection that gave Japanese companies an edge has become even more intense because of global competition, he said, sometimes at a cost to workers. "When competition builds in a market economy, then demands on a worker become endless, and there's little the individual worker can do to fight back," Mizuno said. Only in recent years has a handful of books criticizing Toyota's overzealous methods started to get published, mostly in Japan. Overseas, tomes extolling Toyota's methods still far outnumber those denigrating it.

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As Toyota has grown, quality has suffered, resulting in massive recalls. Executives, including President Katsuaki Watanabe, repeatedly stress the challenge of maintaining Toyota's production methods amid spectacular global expansion. It now employs about 12,000 contract and temporary agency workers, about 15 percent of its 80,000 -strong workforce in Japan. Tomohiro Kato, a 25-year-old temporary agency worker at Toyota subsidiary Kanto Auto Works Ltd., rammed a rented truck into a crowd in Tokyo's Akihabara district in June and then stabbed passersby with a combat knife. After his arrest, his remarks on the Internet about feeling like a second-class citizen because he was a haken were widely publicized. Japan has long fostered family like loyalty and pride at companies, so one's job takes up a much larger part of a Japanese identity compared with many other nations. A former temporary worker at another Toyota group company said he identified with Kato's sentiments, because he shares the same fears about being laid off and feeling like a loser. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of getting rejected when applying for a full-time job. Tadao Wakatsuki, a Toyota assembly line worker, is organizing a new union that will include temporary workers. He believes the existing union is too acquiescent to management. "What we have is destruction of our employment, destruction of our wages and destruction of our health," he said. "We must protect haken workers if we hope to protect ourselves in the long run." Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009 Unemployed temp worker, 49, believed starved to death in Osaka apartment OSAKA (Kyodo) A man believed to have been a temporary worker has been found dead, apparently from starvation, in his Osaka apartment, police said Friday. The 49-year-old man is believed to have been dead for about a month and may have starved due to lack of income, the police said. The man, whose identity was withheld, told the apartment superintendent last year that he lost his job because of an illness. It is not known whether he was able to find another job, the police said. They said the superintendent found the body Wednesday morning when he visited the apartment to press the man for three months' rent that had been due since November. The man lived alone and had only ¥90 at the time, the police said, adding that nothing was in the refrigerator. Postmortem examinations showed almost nothing in his stomach. Nor was he on welfare, city officials said. His mailbox was filled with bills from utilities and other companies. The apartment management company said the man moved into the unit in May 2005. His contract for the one- room apartment said the rent was ¥39,000 a month and that his annual income was ¥4.5 million to ¥4.6 million.

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The man failed to pay rent from January to May last year, explaining he lost his job after prolonged sick leave. His relatives paid the rent instead, the superintendent said. "He said he was not feeling well so I told him to apply for welfare," said the man's brother, 52, who lives in Naruto, Tokushima Prefecture. "I didn't think something like this would happen." Thursday, Dec. 25, 2008 Q&A Temps a threatened species as job cuts bite By NATSUKO FUKUE Staff writer Temporary workers are bearing the brunt of cost-cutting measures taken by businesses, especially in the manufacturing sector, to weather the recession. In November, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry announced that since October, 30,067 temps have either been let go or will be out of work by March. The actual number, however, is certainly much higher, given that subsidiaries of major car manufacturers are not required to report layoffs to the ministry. Is the government trying to deal with the rampant downsizing? Will the latest amendment of the worker dispatch law improve the conditions of temp workers? Following are basic questions and answers on the temp situation: How many temp workers are there in Japan? According to a 2007 labor ministry survey, 3.21 million people were employed as temps in fiscal 2006, triple the 1.07 million thus employed in fiscal 1999. What does the worker dispatch law cover and how has it been amended over the past decade or so? The law sets out the regulations temp staff agencies must abide by in dispatching workers, including the kinds of jobs they can perform, and the length of employment depending on the job. The law only applied to secretarial and interpreting jobs until 1999, when it was revised to cover almost every field except the manufacturing and medical industries. This last restriction was dropped when the law was revised again in 2004. The 2004 amendment also stipulates that an employer must hire a temp worker directly after three years of employment rather than continue to go through a temp agency. However, Makoto Kawazoe, secretary general of the Tokyo Young Contingent Workers Union, said the amendment fails to guarantee stable employment. Companies that hire temp workers directly usually do so on short-term contracts that allow them to dismiss workers within a year or so, he said. A revised bill was submitted to the Diet this month to ban contracts of 30 days or less between a temp staff agency and a worker. Under the current system, temp agencies are allowed to offer one-day contracts. Will this revision improve the working conditions of temp laborers? Experts say no, pointing out that without a guaranteed income of more than 30 days, workers cannot achieve

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financial stability. What's more, those with short-term contracts are not eligible for unemployment benefits. They also point to a loophole that allows temp agencies to continue dispatching workers to different clients on a daily basis, rendering them a disposable workforce. What problems will temp workers face in the years to come? One of the biggest is what experts have dubbed "The Year 2009 Problem." The three-year contracts many temps signed in 2006 will run out next year. After media reports exposed the unfair hiring practices of such major manufacturers as Panasonic Corp. and Canon Inc., many workers signed three-year contracts in 2006. Under normal contracting practices, a smaller contractor independently manufactures parts for larger manufacturers. But by disguising the terms of their contracting, major manufacturers were avoiding paying higher salaries and administrative costs by having temps work directly at their facilities. Although manufacturers are obliged to directly employ temp workers after three years, it is unlikely they will hire them as full-timers to avoid a payroll increase. The current massive layoffs, however, are taking place even before the contracts run out due to the economic downturn triggered by the global financial crisis. Is the government taking measures to support laid-off temp workers? The labor ministry's employment bureau, known as Hello Work, is taking steps to secure housing for temp workers who were forced to leave their dormitories after being laid off or when their contracts ran out. At an interest rate of about 3 percent, the government will lend up to ¥400,000 for a housing deposit, ¥60,000 a month for rent and ¥150,000 a month for living expenses and the fee for job searches. Hello Work bureaus will also offer workers reasonable public housing subsidized by the labor ministry. There are 13,266 rooms currently available. Starting next year, the labor ministry also hopes to shorten the time from one year to six months that workers must pay into the system before they are eligible to receive unemployment benefits. Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008 Bill outlawing daily dispatch of temps OK'd Kyodo News A bill to effectively ban staff agencies from dispatching workers on a daily basis was approved by the government Tuesday, boosting the protection of temporary workers. The amendment to the worker dispatch law would bar staffing agencies from dispatching registered workers for day work or less than 30 days' employment. But people in 18 professional areas, including interpreters and secretaries, would be exempt. When a company establishes its own manpower agency, the ratio of workers it sends to group firms should not exceed 80 percent under the bill.

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The government plans to submit the bill to the Diet before it closes Nov. 30. But its prospects remain uncertain, with the opposition becoming increasingly combative in response to moves by Prime Minister Taro Aso to avoid dissolving the Lower House in the immediate future. Speaking at a news conference, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe called on the opposition camp to cooperate in enacting the bill, saying, "Everybody knows that the practice of dispatching workers on a daily basis is problematic, so I do not believe that there are major differences in views" between the ruling and opposition camps. "The odds would be high that an agreement will be reached unless (the opposition) developed a desire to use this issue as a power struggle or as a tool for a political fight," he said. The dispatch of temporary workers on a daily basis has been criticized for spawning young working poor and widening Japan's social disparities. The illegal dispatch of workers has made headlines as many firms have been found to have issued work orders and instructions to employees dispatched by staffing agencies. The bill would enable the government to advise such companies in violation of the law to form direct employment contracts with workers being sent by manpower agencies. The amendment would take effect next Oct. 1. Some key provisions of the amendment, including banning the dispatch of day workers, would not take effect until April 1, 2010. The amendment would be reviewed five years after its enforcement. Monday, Oct. 6, 2008 EDITORIAL Japan's foreign workers Japanese companies are not as Japanese as they once were. Japanese banks are taking over the assets of failed Wall Street investments firms, of course, but in addition to those economic assets, Japanese companies have been obtaining another asset — foreign workers. Statistics released two months ago by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare found that the number of foreign workers at Japanese firms took a huge leap from 2007 to 2008, rising by nearly one-third to a total of 330,000, the largest number ever. This may not constitute a large percentage overall, but it signals a large shift in attitude. The rise in the number of foreign workers indicates the beginning of quantitative and qualitative changes in the working environment in Japan. If the attitude toward work has been changing among younger Japanese, the addition of foreign workers will surely accelerate those changes and add new ones. The government's proposal earlier this year to progressively allow more foreign students and workers in the next few years will ensure that the nature and structure of many Japanese companies will evolve in the future to accommodate and integrate them. Part of the upsurge in numbers can be partially attributed to new requirements in reporting employees. Finding so many more workers than expected may not have been the government's intention when it set out to check the name, nationality, address and visa status of each foreign worker at every workplace, but it is one of the interesting results. Perhaps the numbers were vastly underreported in the past, but clearly the number of foreign workers is rising much more quickly than expected. Even with many firms not yet finalizing their reports on foreign workers, it appears that a great deal of change has already taken place.

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Surveys taken in 2007 also show that even more of these workers than in the past received education in Japan. A larger percentage of foreign workers than ever now find work after graduating from a Japanese college or special training school. More and more graduates are deciding to stay on in Japan, thousands every year, with more workers going into nonmanufacturing firms and nearly a third staying on as translators and interpreters. The government proposal this summer called for increases of foreign students to nearly 1 million by 2025. Many of those future students are likely to remain to work in Japan. The number of regular foreign employees has also leaped to its highest level ever, giving evidence that the new workers are not merely here for a few years, but intend to stay much longer. More than one-third of all foreign workers are listed as heads of household with contract worker or temporary worker status. This suggests that many of these workers are starting to call Japan home. Workers are still coming over for short-term work, but even those short-termers are working here for increasingly longer periods of time. Having all workers documented by companies and reported to the government signals a more responsible approach than the often-exploitative conditions for many foreign workers in the past. Though the total percentage still remains small, these workers are integrating more deeply into Japanese workplaces and society. That integration demands better conditions and a more concerted effort to find ways of successful and productive integration. Finding the right way forward on this issue is rather tricky, but can be expedited by focusing on the essentials of work and health. First of all, it is essential that past problems with foreign workers be resolved. The importing of "trainees" and "interns," terms often used to cover up exploitative and even illegal work practices in the past, needs closer oversight. Foreign workers should also be enrolled in social insurance, including pensions and health care, on an equal basis with Japanese workers. Contracts, too, need to be better negotiated and clearly written. When contracts are broken, on an individual or large-scale basis, foreign workers should be assured of the same rights as Japanese. If the government is serious about letting the number of foreign immigrants rise, then internationally accepted working practices will have to be gradually introduced alongside traditional Japanese work customs. Japan is still far behind other industrialized countries in many aspects, but this will change. Estimates of a 15 percent foreign workforce in the United States and a slightly lower percentage in the European Union show that globalization of the workplace is arriving more slowly in Japan than in other countries. That should not be cause for accelerating the process, nor for excessive caution, but should be simply understood as another stage of Japan's economic and social development. Development brought through foreign workers will surely be to Japan's benefit, even as the very concept of Japan becomes more diverse and participatory than in the past. Sunday, Dec. 23, 2007 Goodwill may get suspended over temp staff violation Kyodo News The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is planning to slap a nationwide business suspension on temp staff agency Goodwill Inc. for sending employees to engage in banned lines of work and other violations, government sources said Saturday. The order would ban the Tokyo-based company from dispatching workers for up to four months and could be imposed as early as January, the sources said.

"worker dispatching", p. 15

Goodwill's parent company, Goodwill Group Inc., said the same day that it has been told that the Tokyo Labor Bureau wants it to explain what it was doing before handing down the punishment. The company has been told to submit an explanation by Jan. 8. The group said it has been told that, under the ministry's plan, 89 of Goodwill's roughly 800 nationwide branches will be ordered to suspend operations for four months and that its remaining worker dispatch business will be suspended two months. In a statement, Goodwill Group said it "deeply apologizes for causing trouble and concern among the related parties and shareholders." Earlier this year, another temp staff agency, Fullcast Co., was ordered to temporarily suspend operations for dispatching workers to ports, where they are not allowed to work. Some believe Goodwill's case will call the entire temp staff industry into question. It was the second scandal to hit the Goodwill group this year. In June, the group was forced to withdraw from the nursing-care business after the welfare ministry terminated the licenses of most of the nursing homes run by group company Comsn Inc., which was found to have made false declarations to authorities. The illegal dispatches involving Goodwill came to light after a man in his 20s was injured in February while working under the instructions of a company other than the one that originally accepted the worker from Goodwill. This case counts as a double violation under the temp worker dispatch law and the employment security law — the dispatching workers for port cargo operations and the redispatching of workers who have been dispatched by another company. A subsequent probe by the labor bureau has uncovered a number of other violations by Goodwill, according to the sources. Earlier, in June 2005, the labor bureau ordered Goodwill to improve its business practices after it was found to have dispatched workers to the construction industry, another banned field. In August, a group of temp workers sued Goodwill demanding it refund the wages that they were unreasonably deducted by the firm. The temp staff business in Japan has rapidly expanded in recent years thanks to a government deregulation drive and is estimated to have a market of about ¥4 trillion.

"worker dispatching", p. 16

Words related to "worker dispatching" topic (compiled by Professor Kamada) 派遣社員：a temporary worker(employee), a dispatched worker(employee) 正社員：a full-time worker(employee), regular (permanent) worker(employee) 派遣会社(元）：temporary staff agency 派遣先：a company where temporary worker are assigned 失業率：an unemployment rate リストラ：restructuring 売り手市場：worker’s market 労働条件：working conditions, employment(labor) conditions, 解雇する：dismiss, fire 終身雇用：lifetime employment サービス残業：unpaid overtime 雇用安定：stabilization of employment 雇用延長：extension of employment 雇用確保：job security 雇用関係：employment relationship 雇用機会均等：equal employment opportunities 雇用契約：employment contract 雇用差別：employment discrimination 生産性（労働等の）：productivity 経営者：management 補償：compensation 忠誠：loyalty 役員：executives 収入：income 仕事中毒：workaholic 就労時間：working hours 仕事と家庭：a career and a family 実績（能力）主義：the merit system 手当て：benefits 退職：retirement 昇進：promotion パート：part-time job 両立する：be compatible with, have ~ both ways 幸福の追求：pursuit of happiness 厚生労働省：the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry 仕事の紹介・斡旋：placements 利便性：convenience 満足感：a sense of satisfaction 充実感：a sense of fulfillment 安心感：easiness

"worker dispatching", p. 17

Words in the Japan Times Articles (compiled by Professor Kamada) party platform：党の政策綱領 DPJ (Democratic Party of Japan)：民主党 ruling party：与党 LDP (Liberal Democratic Party)：自由民主党 opposition party：野党 layoffs (dismissal, fire, ax, discharge, let go)：解雇 dispatch law：派遣法 temp workers：派遣労働者 manufacturing：製造業 Lower House：下院（衆議院: the House of Representatives） Upper House：上院（参議院: the House of Councilors） Diet：国会 be required：義務化する discard (v)：見捨てる the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry：厚生労働省 global recession：世界的不況 accommodations：宿泊設備、宿泊施設 shelters：避難所、退避所、保護施設 the administration：政権 insurance premiums：保険料、特別手当 incentives：報奨金、士気を高めるもの welfare and child care：児童・福祉 ban (v)：禁止する（法律等で） relaxation：緩和（規制等の） economic slump：不景気 dormitories：寮 disparity：格差 full-fledged workers：正社員 pension：年金 safety valve：安全弁（企業側の経費縮減のために雇用調整等） unions：組合 reregulating：規制の変更（修正） the Japan Chamber of commerce and Industry：日本商工会議所 Japan Business Federation：日本経団連 Labor practices：労働慣行 abuse：乱用、虐待行為（権力・権威等の） death from overwork：過労死 workaholic：仕事中毒 amend (v)：修正（改定・改正）する（法律等を） bill：法案

"worker dispatching", p. 18

毎日新聞HP検索記事2009/9/29 (compiled by Professor Kamada) ● 派遣切り：女性が日産などを提訴 １５００万円賠償求め 専門業務の派遣で契約したのに、違う内容の仕事をさせられたうえ、契約を解除されたとして、日産自動車（本社・

横浜市）で働いていた東京都在住の元派遣社員の女性（２９）が１７日、日産と派遣会社のアデコ（東京都港区）を

相手取り、日産の直接雇用の確認と損害賠償など約１５００万円の支払いを求め、東京地裁に提訴した。弁護団によ

ると、事務系派遣を巡る同種の訴訟は珍しいという。 訴状などによると、女性は０３年１０月から５年８カ月、専門業務の「事務用機器の操作」という契約で日産自動

車で働いた。しかし、実態は電話番や来客の接待、コピー取りなどが主だった。専門業務については派遣の期間制限

はないが、一般業務では３年の期間制限があり、派遣先には直接雇用を打診する義務がある。このため女性は０９年

４月、東京労働局に指導を申告したが、同月内にアデコに契約を解除された。 その後も日産が女性の加入する労組「首都圏青年ユニオン」との協議に応じないことなどから、 提訴した。【東海林智】 ●働くナビ：女性たちが訴える派遣労働の問題点とは。◆女性たちが訴える派遣労働の問題点とは。 ◇低賃金で「専門業務」－－正社員の代替で事務全般／経験積んでも仕事なく 先月５日、派遣労働者や失業中の女性ら約５０人が、派遣労働の規制強化や待遇改善を訴えて、東京都内をデモ行

進した。名付けて「オンナ・ハケンの乱」。女性の労働問題に取り組む「働く女性の全国センター」などが呼びかけ

た。 昨秋の経済危機以降、雇用調整が進んで「派遣切り」が社会問題化し、「派遣村」の取り組みが注目された。窮状

を訴える当事者は男性が中心だった。しかし、全国センターの伊藤みどり代表は「派遣という働き方が男性にも広が

り、問題視されるようになっただけで、女性は派遣法成立当時からずっと派遣で働かされてきた」と訴える。 労働者派遣法の制定は８５年。当初は専門性が高く常用代替とならないとして、ソフトウエア開発、事務用機器操

作、秘書など１３業務に限って導入された。いずれも女性が多い分野だ。 同じ年「男女雇用機会均等法」が制定された。同法は労働者の性差別をなくすのが目的だが、労働問題に詳しい中

野麻美弁護士は「均等といいながら、企業の求めに応じ、長時間労働や配置転換に耐えられる女性だけが登用された。

育児や介護などで、そうした働き方についていけない女性労働者の受け皿として派遣が法制化された」と説明する。 法施行当初、派遣労働者の時給は１５００～１７００円程度あり、パート労働より賃金がよく魅力的な働き方とみ

られていた。しかし、規制緩和で派遣の対象業務や期間が拡大していくのに伴って、「値崩れ」を起こし、雇用破壊

も進んだ。 派遣労働者の６割は女性が占める。特に事務職の女性が多い「専門２６業務」は、３年という派遣期間制限が適用

されない。一方、廃案になった派遣法改正案の中でも日雇い派遣は原則禁止だったが、２６業務のうち１８業務はそ

の例外とされた。 伊藤代表は「かつて専門的といわれたパソコン操作などは、今では一般的な業務だ。『事務用機器操作』という契

約で雇い、正社員の代わりに低賃金で事務全般をやらせる例も後を絶たない」と憤る。 金融関係の専門職の派遣として１５年働いてきた御堂由縁里さん（４６）は、不安定雇用から脱したいと、正社員

を目指して就職活動も続けた。しかしかなわず、２、３年前から専門性の高い派遣の紹介も来なくなったという。登

録会社から届く情報には 近、 低賃金ぎりぎりの日雇いの仕事が目につく。 御堂さんは「派遣で働き始めたころは時給が１８００円くらいあった。経験を積み、専門性を上げる努力をしたのに、

逆に仕事もなく、生活もギリギリのところまで追い込まれている」と訴える。 民主党など与党３党は、労働者派遣法を抜本改正し「日雇い派遣」の禁止や、登録型派遣、製造業派遣を原則禁止

とすることで政策合意した。これに対し、業界団体の日本人材派遣協会は「日雇いや登録型の派遣が禁止されれば影

響が大きい」として、７月末までに派遣法の規制強化に反対する約５７万人の署名を集め、厚生労働相に提出する予

定だ。 派遣法に関する論議は今後本格化するとみられる。派遣問題がどう扱われるか、多くの女性が注目している。【山

"worker dispatching", p. 19

崎友記子】 ■期間の制限がない２６業務 事務用機器操作 ▽財務処理▽取引文書作成▽ファイリング▽ソフトウエア開発▽機械設計▽通訳・翻訳・速記▽秘

書▽デモンストレーション▽添乗▽受付・案内▽市場調査▽建築物清掃▽建築設備運転・点検・整備▽科学に関する

研究開発▽事業の企画・立案▽書籍の制作・編集▽商品・広告デザイン▽インテリアコーディネーター▽アナウンサ

ー▽ＯＡインストラクション▽テレマーケティング▽セールスエンジニア▽放送機器操作▽放送番組演出▽放送番組

の大・小道具 ● 雇用：各党が政権公約に 昨秋以降の経済危機で「派遣切り」が社会問題化したため、各党は今回の衆院選で、非正規雇用労働者らへの支援

策や各種雇用対策をマニフェスト（政権公約）に掲げている。 自民は雇用調整助成金制度にからみ、解雇を行わない場合の助成率の上乗せなどを通じ「日本型ワークシェアリン

グ」を進めると表明。３年間で１００万人の職業訓練の実施などもあげる。公明も「再就職支援付き住宅手当」の拡

充や、雇用保険・厚生年金などの加入要件緩和を明記した。 民主は、製造現場への派遣を原則禁止するとし、月額 大１０万円の手当がついた「職業訓練制度」の創設や雇用

保険を全労働者に適用すると表明。社民も職業訓練中の生活保障を法制化、月１０万円程度を支給すると公約する。

国民新は「若者就職基金」創設を訴える。 共産は、労働者派遣法の抜本改正や雇用保険の大幅拡充を掲げ、みんなの党は、長期失業者らを対象にした職業訓

練中の医療保険の負担軽減策などを盛り込んだ。【山崎友記子】 毎日新聞 2009年8月28日 11時44分（ 終更新 8月28日 11時45分） ● 自動車総連：派遣切り巡り反省の弁 執行部 「同じことは繰り返しません」－－。神戸市で３日から開かれている自動車関連の労組で作る自動車総連（西原浩

一郎会長）の定期大会で、昨年秋以降、急速に拡大した派遣など非正規雇用労働者が雇い止めなどで大量失職したい

わゆる「派遣切り」を巡り、そんな率直な反省の言葉が飛び出した。「正社員クラブ」と、やゆされることもある労

組からの言葉。自動車会社で派遣切りにあった当事者からは「同じ労働者として考えてくれたようでうれしい」との

声が出ている。 発言は３日の定期大会の運動方針を巡る質疑で飛び出した。ホンダ労組の組合員が「昨年秋以来、多くの非正規労

働者の雇用が失われ、社会的な批判も浴びた。同じこと（派遣切り）の繰り返しは許されない。執行部はどう考える

のか」と質問、対応や考え方を聞いた。 これに対して執行部は、生産が大幅に減少する中で起きたことだとの認識を示した上で「（派遣切りを）重く受け

止め、同じことは繰り返さない」と表明した。さらに、非正規労働者を含めどう雇用を守るかを経営陣らと定期的に

協議し、対応を検討していると説明。労働者派遣法の改正を巡っても、製造業務への登録派遣を原則禁止するとした

民主党や社民党の改正案（先の国会で廃案）に「自動車総連も基本的には同じ」と賛成する立場を明確にした。 この発言に、昨年末に契約途中で三菱ふそうを雇い止めになり、地位確認を求めて係争中の元派遣労働者、鈴木重

光さん（３６）は「雇い止めになった時に正社員組合は何もしてくれなかったが、ちゃんと向き合って考えてくれた

のかと思うとうれしい。（裁判を起こし）声を上げて良かった」と述べた。派遣労働者の支援をしてきた首都圏青年

ユニオンの河添誠書記長は「今後、具体的に何をするのかが大事だが、大企業労組が派遣切りを問題にし率直に語っ

たことは重要だ。歓迎したい」と話している。【東海林智】 「正社員並みの仕事」４０％ 9月30日(水) 10時16分配信 契約社員やパート、派遣労働者など決められた雇用期間で働いている「有期契約労働者」に関する厚生労働省の調

査で、全国の有期契約労働者の４０％超が正社員並みの仕事をしているとみられることが３０日、分かった。有期契

約労働者なしでは「事業が成り立たない」という企業も５４％に上る。企業が正社員の代替として低賃金、短期間の

非正社員を利用している実態がデータで裏付けられた。 共同通信

第１３回 中学・高校ディベート選手権 論題解説

高校：「日本は労働者派遣を禁止すべきである。是か非か」 ＊ 労働者派遣の定義は現行の労働者派遣法に従う。

論題検討委員 山川直巳

●はじめに

今回の論題は「日本は労働者派遣を禁止すべ

きである」です。私たちの生活・幸福に大きく

影響を与えている派遣制度そのものを検証い

ただく趣旨でこの論題を選定しました。

●議論のための予備知識

・労働者派遣の定義

労働者派遣とは、簡単に言うと、「労働者

リース業」です。一般的には、企業が労働者を

雇用し直接業務指示するのに対して、労働者派

遣は、企業が労働者を雇用し他企業の業務指示

の下に置く雇用形態を言います。雇用企業を

派遣元、労働者に業務を指示する企業を派遣

先といいます。雇用関係と指揮命令関係が不

一致になります。たとえば、Ｙさんがある会社

Ａに雇われたが、会社Ｂで、必要とされる期間

だけ働くというような形態です。ここでＢ社は

Ａ社にとっては派遣事業における顧客で、Ｙさ

んは「お客様」を上司として働くことになりま

す。

労働者派遣法――「労働者派遣事業の適正な

運営の確保及び派遣労働者の就業条件の整備

等に関する法律」（1985年制定、2007年最終改

正）には次のように定義されています：

第一章 総則／第二条／二 労働者派遣

自己の雇用する労働者を、当該雇用関係

の下に、かつ、他人の指揮命令を受けて、

当該他人のために労働に従事させること

をいい、当該他人に対し当該労働者を当該

他人に雇用させることを約してするもの

を含まないものとする。

なお、派遣としばしば混同されたり偽って用

いられたりする請負は、指揮命令関係をもたず

仕事を完成させる民事契約で、この定義には含

まれません。各家庭に介護士を派遣するという

場合の「派遣」も意味が異なります。もちろん、

パートやアルバイトという形態は含まれませ

ん。

・労働者派遣の経緯

労働者派遣法は、職業安定法（44条）により

禁止されている労働者供給事業の中から「労働

者派遣」を法制化し適正な事業がなされるよう

に、1985年に制定されました。当時、曖昧な「請

負」と称して行われてきた人材派遣業をきちん

と定義し認めることで、産業界の要請に応える

とともに、労働者の権利を保護することが目的

です。制定時は、専門性が高く労働者の不利益

とならないと考えられる業務に限って認めら

れました。その後、1999年に禁止業務以外は原

則自由化されるなど、何回かにわたって規制緩

和する方向で改正されています。

改正の意図は、経済のグローバル化に対応し

て企業の国際競争力を高めることです。たとえ

ば、企業が、景気変動・季節変動や一時的な欠

員補充のために、正規労働者を雇うと不要にな

っても解雇できないので、必要な期間派遣労働

者で対応できるようにするためです。また、少

子高齢化の労働力不足に対応して高齢者や女

性が働ける環境を作る意図もあります。たとえ

ば、なんらかの事情があり通年で働くことはで

きないが３ヶ月だけ働きたいという人には派

遣という選択肢はありがたいでしょう。

・労働者派遣の実態

労働者派遣は、規制緩和につれて飛躍的に拡

大してきました。『平成19年版 労働経済白書』

(p18)雇用形態別雇用者数によると、2007年 第

１四半期における役員を除く雇用者：5120万人

の内訳は、

正規労働者： 3393万人 (66.3%)

非正規労働者 ： 1726万人 (33.7%)

―うち派遣労働者： 121万人 ( 2.4%)

であり、派遣労働者の数は、2000年の33万人と

比べて約４倍です。

派遣労働者の平均年収は、『週刊東洋経済

2008年2月16日号』(p39)によると、

派遣労働者平均年収： 292万円

全労働者 平均年収： 487万円

です。ただし、この差は、労働時間数、学歴、

能力、勤続年数、年齢、性別などの要因を考慮

し分析する必要があります。

派遣を選択する理由は、企業側は「人員を迅

速に確保できる」や「コスト安」などです。他

方、労働者側は「仕事内容を選べる」や「正規

の職がなかった」などです。

労働者派遣の形態には、派遣元に常時雇用さ

れている常用雇用型派遣と、派遣先が見つか

るまでは登録しておき派遣先が必要とする期

間派遣元に雇用される登録型派遣の２種類が

あります。登録型派遣は、派遣契約期間が終了

すると職を失う不安定なもので、しかも、賃金

や社会保険・雇用保険などの待遇面では恵まれ

ているとはいえないことが多いようです。「日

雇い派遣」という１日ごとの派遣も合法です。

なお、違法な派遣は緊急対策がとられ始めまし

た。

また、「労働者派遣事業の平成18年度事業報

告について」の厚生労働省発表

（http://www.mhlw.go.jp/houdou/2007/12/h1

228-2.html）によると、実際に派遣された派

遣労働者：321 万人の内訳は、

常用雇用型派遣労働者： 86.7万人(27.0%)

登録型派遣労働者： 234 万人(73.0%)

です。なお、前述の雇用形態別雇用者数で人数

が異なっているのは、登録型派遣労働者の人数

として、登録型派遣労働者全員の年間総労働時

間数の合計を常用労働者１人あたりの年間総

労働時間数で割った常用換算人数を用いてい

るのに対して、ここでは文字通りの人数を用い

ているからでしょう。

●想定される議論

論題を素直に解釈すると、法改正して労働者

派遣を全面禁止するプランが想定されます。念

のため、論題は「日本は労働者派遣法を廃止す

べきである」ではないことにご注意ください。

ですから、このプラン後は、同法成立以前のよ

うな「派遣」「請負」などの定義が曖昧な状況

にはならないでしょう。

さて、労働者派遣が全面禁止されると、労働

者の生活、企業の経営、日本の労働市場・経済・

社会にどのような影響をあたえるでしょうか。

想定されるメリット・デメリットの一例を記し

ます：

・メリット：派遣労働者への格差解消

現在、正規労働者と派遣労働者が同じ職場で

一緒に同じ仕事をしながら、賃金など待遇に格

差があると言われています。正規の職がなく、

有期で不安定な派遣を選択せざるを得ない場

合もあります。

派遣が禁止されるとこれらの格差がなくな

るでしょう。

・デメリット：失業率が上がる

現在、企業は、派遣により比較的容易に人員

を増やしています。また、必要な期間だけ人員

を得られるため、各企業は収益を上げることが

でき、日本全体でみたとき雇用を増やすことが

できています。

派遣が禁止されると、現在の派遣労働者全員

を正規労働者として採用しないので、失業率が

上がります。あるいは採用するシナリオでも、

それが各企業の収益の悪化につながり、日本全

体で見ると景気は悪くなり失業率を上げてし

まうでしょう。

このようにメリット・デメリットが対立した

場合、まずは発生の確実さや影響する人数、格

差や失業それぞれの深刻さを比較することに

なるでしょう。その際、派遣の意義・価値の議

論や、人権保護か自由な労働市場かといった政

策に対する立場・価値観の議論が勝敗の鍵にな

るかもしれません。

●労働政策全体を考えるための新書３冊

・中野麻美『労働ダンピング ―雇用の多様化

の果てに』 岩波新書 (2006)

・橘木俊詔『格差社会 ―何が問題なのか』

岩波新書 (2006)

・八代尚宏『雇用改革の時代 ―働き方は

どう変わるか』 中公新書 (1999)

(2008年３月号掲載)