The Japan Federation of Employers' Association (Nikkeiren) and the Japanese Trade Unions Confederation (Rengo) demand that employment measures be beefed up
At his July 13 meeting with the Minister
of Finance Shiokawa, Nikkeiren President
Hiroshi Okuda announced his support
for the
Koizumi Administration's reform policies
that focus on disposing of bad loans
to revive
the ailing Japanese economy. Okuda
strongly
urged the Japanese government to set
up employment
"safety nets" to deal with
problems
that are anticipated to arise during
the
course of disposing the loans. At a
seminar
of top corporate management held on
August
2, meanwhile, Okuda proposed a plan
to create
over 1 million jobs during a three-year
period.
The plan calls for creating limited-term
employment in sectors that have so
far received
only insufficient public services,
such as
education, medical treatment, nursing
care,
and the environment.
Rengo, meanwhile, filed requests to the Ministry
of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Ministry
of Finance, and other government agencies
on July 11, according to the "Policy-and
lnstitution-Related Demands and Proposals"
which they had decided in June. Their requests
were as follows: (1) establish an environment
that readily allow both men and women to
work and raise a family; (2) introduce measures
to improve the working conditions of part-time
and temporary workers; (3) promote employment
creation measures and boost employment safety
nets under the close collaboration of the
central and local governments; and (4) introduce
programs for developing vocational skills
and competencies.