Unions for youths commended for contributions to fight against deaths of overwork

The Dragon Fund to Abolish Karoshi awarded Youth Union Tokyo and Evil-arbeit Union the 9^th NAKAJIMA Tomio Prize in recognition of the two unions' efforts to improve working conditions for young people. The fund that commemorates a worker at a restaurant chain who died a death from overwork (Karoshi) in August 2004, has supported efforts toward the eradication of such deaths since its establishment in 2006 and awards the prize named after the worker each year to organizations and individuals that have made significant contributions to this end.

The ceremony held in Tokyo on August 9, the Nagasaki atomic-bomb day, with 112 attendees, started with a moment of silence for Nakajima, MAEZAWA Takayuki, another worker at the same restaurant chain who passed away in 2007, MORI Mina, a worker victimized by Watami izakaya bar chain in 2008 and victims of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki. The parents of Mori reported on the status of the lawsuit against the bar chain and its owner, WATANABE Miki, a member of the Upper House of the Diet. Professor Emeritus IGARASHI Jin, a political scientist and a former director of the Ohara Institute for Social Research, Hosei University, gave a lecture titled “Toward a society where people are respected.” (SUDA Mitsuhiro)

首都圏学生ユニオンと ブラックバイトユニオンを表彰～第9回中島富雄賞

 過労死をなくすために活動している「過労死をなくそう！龍基金」は８月９日、第９回中島富 雄賞授賞式を東京・葛飾で開催し、若者の労働環境の改善に取り組んでいる首都圏学生ユニオンとブラッ クバイトユニオンの両団体を今年の受賞者として表彰しました。ワタミ過労死遺族はワタミや渡辺美樹参 院議員ら経営者に法的責任を取らせるべく交渉に入っていると現在の裁判闘争を報告。政治学者の五十嵐 仁さん（法政大学大原社会問題研究所前所長）が「人間が大切にされる社会をめざして」と題して記念講 演を行いました。会場には満席の112人が集まりました。冒頭、すかいらーくで過労死した中島富雄さんと 前澤隆之さん、ワタミで過労死した森美菜さん、また当日が長崎原爆の日だったことから被爆者への哀悼 を表して全員で黙とうを捧げました。（須田光照）