英字新聞

2010/10/30
--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 29
EDITORIAL: Nonregular workers' pay
非正社員賃上げ―公正な分配へ具体化を

The Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) has decided to demand bigger wage hikes for part-time, temporary and other nonregular workers than the pay raises for full-time employees during next year's spring wage offensive. We welcome the decision.
　パートや派遣社員などの非正社員について、正社員を上回る賃上げを求める。そんな春闘方針を連合が決めたことを、評価したい。

The nation's largest labor organization says it will try to narrow the income gap by demanding larger increases in terms of hourly wages for nonregular workers than those for regular employees. Officials at labor unions belonging to Rengo will start discussions Nov. 1 on how to achieve the goal.
　時給ベースで正社員を上回る引き上げ額を要求して、格差を縮めていくという。傘下の組織の責任者らが１１月１日から具体策を話し合う。

This is a groundbreaking policy shift for Rengo, which has traditionally focused on the interests of full-time employees who make up 90 percent of its members.
　組合員の９割が正社員である連合としては画期的な方針転換だ。

The move was prompted by a decline in the average wage level of Japan's work force due to a sharp rise in nonregular workers.
背中を押したのは、非正社員の急増による働き手全体の賃金低下だった。

Over 15 years since 1995, the number of permanent employees has decreased by about 4 million, while the ranks of nonregular workers have grown by about 7 million to account for more than a third of the overall work force. As a result, the rate of unionized workers has fallen below 20 percent, eroding labor unions' bargaining power.
　１９９５年からの１５年に正社員は約４００万人減った。非正社員は約７００万人増え、３人に１人を超えた。労組の組織率は２割を切り、企業との交渉力は低下。

Despite the longest postwar economic expansion between 2002 and 2007, the average gross pay for Japanese workers has sunk 12 percent from its peak in 1997.
２００２年から０７年まで「戦後最長の景気拡大」があっても、働き手の１人あたり現金給与総額は９７年のピークから１２％落ち込んだ。

Shrinking paychecks have choked growth in consumer spending.
それが消費の停滞も招いた。

In addition, companies shed a huge number of nonpermanent workers during the economic crisis that began in fall 2008.
Union members on the regular payroll realized that their positions are being saved at the expense of the jobs of their nonpermanent colleagues, according to union leaders.
　加えて、０８年秋の経済危機で大量の非正社員が契約を打ち切られ、「非正社員を犠牲にして正社員が生き残る構図」を目の当たりにしたことも、正社員の組合員たちに衝撃を与えた、と執行部はいう。

In a bid to stem the trend, Rengo has pledged to place greater importance on the interests of nonregular workers, showing its commitment to redressing the disparities between the two groups over the long term.
　この状況に歯止めをかけるため、非正社員重視を掲げ、中長期的な格差是正への決意を示した。

But it remains unclear how Rengo's new goal can be achieved.
だが、実現の道筋は見えていない。

The yen's sharp rise has aroused strong anxiety about the outlook for corporate earnings, and concerns remain about the trend among companies toward shifting operations overseas.
　円高ショックの中で企業業績の先行き不安は強く、グローバル化による企業の海外脱出への懸念もなお続く。

What Rengo has decided to demand is a higher share of nonregular workers in the pay increase for next year that doesn't involve a cut in the salaries of full-time employees. Still, it could spark howls of discontent among regular employees.
今回の要求方針は、賃上げ分の中の非正社員への配分増で、正社員分を減らすわけではないが、正社員から不満が噴き出さないとも限らない。

What is needed is a serious joint effort by the unions and the management of individual companies to share income in a fair manner. Such efforts should be based on a clear understanding of the effects of economic inequality on society and businesses.
　そんな中で必要なことは、格差が社会や企業に及ぼす影響を洗い出し、各企業の労使が正面から向き合って、公正な分配へ向けた成功例や工夫を積み上げていくことではないか。

Last year, Hiroshima Electric Railway Co., in response to a demand by its labor union, gave full-time positions to all contract workers by increasing its funds to pay wages.
　日本では昨年、労組の求めに応じて広島電鉄が賃金の原資を増やして全契約社員の正社員化に踏み切った。

In the United States in the late 1990s, a transport industry union staged a prolonged strike at United Parcel Service Inc., a major package delivery company, demanding better working conditions for part-time workers who were paid only about half the hourly wages of full-time employees. The company eventually agreed to a 3-percent pay raise for full-time employees and a 7-percent wage hike for part-timers to narrow the gap.
米国では９０年代後半、運輸業界の労組が大手貨物会社ＵＰＳに対し長期のストを展開。フルタイム労働者の半分程度の時給だったパート労働者の格差是正のため、フルタイム３％、パート７％の賃上げを認めさせた。

In both cases, the union succeeded in getting its demands granted by preventing a division among members. It provided detailed information to members about the issue while enlightening management on the serious effects of income disparities, such as weakened morale and declining quality of services.
　いずれも、きめ細かい情報提供で労組員の分裂を防ぎ、働き手の連帯感の減退やサービスの質の低下など、格差がもたらす弊害の深刻さについて企業に理解を深めさせた成果だった。

It is also important to support such efforts by establishing a system to ensure fair work conditions based on the principle of equal pay for work of equal value.
　こうした動きを制度から後押しするため、同一価値労働同一賃金など公正な労働条件づくりを急ぐことも重要だ。

Another key step is to increase the responsibility of companies that use temporary workers placed by staffing agencies. This is crucial for supporting such workers' labor talks with businesses that use them. Unfortunately, this measure has been dropped from the revision to the worker dispatch law.
労働者派遣法改正案からは外れたが、派遣社員の労使交渉を進めるための派遣先の責任強化も課題である。

Bolstering the foundation for economic growth requires ensuring that hard work, either by regular or nonregular workers, is rewarded accordingly.
　正規でも非正規でも、まじめに働けば報われる仕組みで、経済の足腰を強くすることが求められている。