Equal treatment now! – Court proceeding starts for postal workers

On July 3, 2014, the first oral proceeding on the so-called “Lawsuit over Article 20 of the Labor Contract Act”, which prohibits irrational working conditions, was held at the Tokyo District Court. Part-time postal workers, despite their same duties and responsibility as full-time counterparts, get only approximately a third of wages earned by the full-timers and are excluded from most benefits enjoyed by the full-time employees. ASAKAWA Kiyoshi, one of the plaintiffs, told the judges, “In preparation for this lawsuit, many have been astonished to know the considerable gap from which part-time employees suffer despite working in the same way as full-time ones. This lawsuit is very important to realize equal pay for equal jobs”. (NIWA Yoshiko)

* Photo: Plaintiffs entering the court

均等待遇が当たり前の社会を！～郵政「労働契約法20条裁判」第一回開かれる

7 月3日、郵政の、所謂「労働契約法20条裁判」の第一回口頭弁論が東京地裁527号法廷で開かれました。郵政の非正規社員は、正社員と同じ業務を担い、責任も同等に負わされながら、賃金は約三分の一、また、外務業務手当など10項目の手当につき、なし、または、格差がつけられています。原告の一人の浅川喜義さんは、「この裁判を準備するなかで、正社員と全く同一に働く期間雇用社員と正社員との待遇格差がこんなにあると気付いて愕然となった人がたくさんいます。改正労働契約法を活用して、同一労働同一賃金、均等待遇が当たり前の社会を実現する上で大変重要な裁判だと認識しております。適正な判断をいただきますよう切に願います」と陳述しました。（丹羽良子）