“Slave labor” in the backyard: Introduction of a video “Technical interns, beware!”

 

“Slave labor” in the backyard: Introduction of a video “Technical interns, beware!”

This 15-minute video clearly depicts what is going on in the backyard of Japanese society. These young Burmese girls came to Japan as technical interns with the following contract: Dressmaking at 120,000 Japanese yen per month, from 8am to 5pm from Monday to Saturday with Sundays off. Each of them paid 800,000 yen to a local organizer. However, the president of their workplace took too big of a cut, and they actually received only 50,000 to 70,000 yen a month. In addition, they had to work from 8am to 10pm everyday almost without holidays. They had to live in an old and dirty apartment (photo). It is painful to hear their testimonies. They had no choice but to escape this terrible situation in a year, but the “local organizer” has sued them in a court in Myanmar (Burma) as a breach of contract. In this video, IBUSUKI Shoichi, their attorney, clearly explains that the “technical internship” program carried out in the name of international contributions is actually “modern-day slavery”. (M)  

Video (15 minutes)

足元で起きている「ドレイ労働」～ビデオ『だまされるな！技能実習生』紹介

わずか15分ほどのビデオだが、いま日本社会の足元で起こっていることがズシリと伝わってくる。「仕事は縫製業、月12万円、朝8時から5時まで、日曜は休み」という契約でビルマからやってきた技能実習生の若い女性たち。現地の送り出し団体に80万円を払ってやってきた。ところが日本に来たら、社長が給料をピンハネし渡されたのは月に5～7万円。そのうえ労働時間も朝8時から夜の10時までで、休みはほとんどなかった。住まいは、古い不潔なアパート（写真）。ビデオで証言するビルマ女性たちの言葉が痛々しい。彼女たちは耐えきれず1年で逃げ出したが、「送り出し団体」はそれを契約違反として、彼女たちをビルマの裁判所に訴えている。ビデオには指宿昭一弁護士も登場し、国際貢献の美名のもとに行われている「技能実習生」制度が「現代版ドレイ労働」であることをわかりやすく解説している。（M）

 ・ビデオ（15分）