ID :
188582
Tue, 06/14/2011 - 19:06
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/188582
The shortlink copeid
Chinese overseas workers exploited in Japan: report
HONG KONG (Kyodo) - Chinese workers are exploited when they work in developed countries such as Japan despite comprehensive labor export regulations, the China Labour Bulletin said Tuesday.
The Hong Kong-based labor rights watchdog said the abundant supply of cheap Chinese labor and Japan employers' demand for them to do jobs Japanese workers are reluctant to do, plus failed enforcement of labor laws have made possible workers' rights violation.
''The Chinese labor laws are very good on paper, the problem is they are not enforced on the ground,'' group communication director Geoffrey Crothall was quoted as saying. ''A lot of local governments are more interested in boosting their own local economy and workers' rights are pretty low on the agenda.''
Chinese government statistics quoted in the report showed that Japan has been the largest international market for Chinese labor by value, with two-thirds of around 200,000 foreign workers in Japan coming from China in 2008.
Under China's labor export policies, placement companies are set up to recruit and supposedly provide training to the workers before sending them off to work overseas.
Crothall said in reality no technical training was given by the placement companies but only sessions held to lay down restrictions at work, making sure the workers are ''docile, hardworking and compliant,'' according to five former employees whom the group is helping with litigation against the Japanese employers and agents.
The workers said they were asked to pay about 20,000 yuan (about $3,000) up front for transportation and various fees and after they had arrived Japan, the living and working conditions promised were even more appalling.
Crothall said one of the workers the group interviewed ''was promised a very comfortable dormitory with tatami mats with TV and refrigerator. What he found was a shed at the back of the boss's house where he kept the dog.''
The Chinese workers were fed food good for ''pigs and chickens,'' while excessive overtime at work was the norm. All aspects of employment regulations, from overtime compensations to rest and sick leave days to minimum pay, were broken. About 30 workers died last year of suspected overwork in Japan, Crothall said.
The Japanese government started a reform on the Technical Intern Training Program in mid-2010, but Crothall said there is no real evidence that the situation is improving because ''basically what the Japanese employers want is cheap labor.''
The group is calling China and Japan to sign and ratify three major international conventions related to migrant labor so as to treat them similarly to local workers. It also asks China to draft new laws and set up an organization to regulate the labor export market.
The Hong Kong-based labor rights watchdog said the abundant supply of cheap Chinese labor and Japan employers' demand for them to do jobs Japanese workers are reluctant to do, plus failed enforcement of labor laws have made possible workers' rights violation.
''The Chinese labor laws are very good on paper, the problem is they are not enforced on the ground,'' group communication director Geoffrey Crothall was quoted as saying. ''A lot of local governments are more interested in boosting their own local economy and workers' rights are pretty low on the agenda.''
Chinese government statistics quoted in the report showed that Japan has been the largest international market for Chinese labor by value, with two-thirds of around 200,000 foreign workers in Japan coming from China in 2008.
Under China's labor export policies, placement companies are set up to recruit and supposedly provide training to the workers before sending them off to work overseas.
Crothall said in reality no technical training was given by the placement companies but only sessions held to lay down restrictions at work, making sure the workers are ''docile, hardworking and compliant,'' according to five former employees whom the group is helping with litigation against the Japanese employers and agents.
The workers said they were asked to pay about 20,000 yuan (about $3,000) up front for transportation and various fees and after they had arrived Japan, the living and working conditions promised were even more appalling.
Crothall said one of the workers the group interviewed ''was promised a very comfortable dormitory with tatami mats with TV and refrigerator. What he found was a shed at the back of the boss's house where he kept the dog.''
The Chinese workers were fed food good for ''pigs and chickens,'' while excessive overtime at work was the norm. All aspects of employment regulations, from overtime compensations to rest and sick leave days to minimum pay, were broken. About 30 workers died last year of suspected overwork in Japan, Crothall said.
The Japanese government started a reform on the Technical Intern Training Program in mid-2010, but Crothall said there is no real evidence that the situation is improving because ''basically what the Japanese employers want is cheap labor.''
The group is calling China and Japan to sign and ratify three major international conventions related to migrant labor so as to treat them similarly to local workers. It also asks China to draft new laws and set up an organization to regulate the labor export market.
