Foreign workers in Japan are recruited in the framework of ‘technical intern training program (TITP)’, but it is a breeding ground of forced labor made from the deplorable working conditions, that is, practically exploitation of cheap and disposable workforce. The system has been accused every year by the reports released by the US Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Report. The program must be abolished as it works against humanitarian principles.
ABOLISH TECHNICAL INTERN TRAINING PROGRAM THAT VIOLATES HUMAN RIGHTS
Objective – far from practices
The purpose of the technical intern training course for foreigners lies in transferring skills, techniques and know-how that Japan has to developing nations and contributing to ‘human resource development’ to help economic growth of countries which send out trainees. But, in fact, the practices imply a means to appropriate cheap labor of unskilled, foreign workers.
In particular, the truth is evident when a supervising organization commits in recruitment; an entrepreneurs’ cooperative invites trainees and sends them to its members, which are usually small and mini-sized businesses with a purpose to let them learn skills. This type of employment holds 97% of the total trainees; that means training is only in name only, being actually a use of simple labor by unskilled workers.
Working conditions and living environment of these foreign employees are awful; non-payment of wage and overtime-work, or payment left outstanding, wages below the minimum wage norms, forced labor for long hours, restrictions on leaving workplace and visits to other places and passport confiscation by the business owners. Many of Japanese employers behave disturbingly, openly violating the human rights.
Trainees are preys of local brokers, too
Another element is existence of brokers in the countries of origin: they collect an excessive sum of money under the various reasons from applicants going abroad. They are made a modern slave when they are unable to pay back. And therefore foreign trainees are afraid of losing his/her job in Japan, which prevents them from protesting their cruel and poor working environment.
Concerning the said supervising organizations, they receive from the member entities more or less 50 thousand Yen monthly per foreign trainee, apart from collecting investment money, members’ fee and temporary expenses for trainees, such as airline tickets, orientation charges and allowances. But the administration on the entities is not sufficient.
The government office in Japan entrusts a private broker to secure cheap labor – this is a fatal error, as employers try to make the best use of foreign workforce as they want in order to retrieve huge expenditure to pay back to the supervising body.
It is obvious that it is workers that suffer when a private broker arranges jobs of cheap labor.
A new system is needed
The current technical intern training program must be immediately repealed. If unskilled, foreign workers are necessary in anyway, a new plan should be established with the following requirements;
The Japanese government should conclude an official agreement with the country of origin and remove intermediary exploitation as much as possible. The government should actively cooperate with the counterpart, commit in the recruitment and dispatch processes and survey whether applicants owe extraordinary debts.
Japanese business entities should directly seek for official certification from a government agency and observe rules on fair wages and right working conditions.
目的と実態が乖離
「外国人技能実習制度」の目的は、日本の技能・技術・知識を開発途上地域等へ移転し、経済発展を担う「人づくり」に寄与することにあるとされる。しかし、実態は外国人の非熟練低賃金労働力の調達手段である。
特に「監理団体型」の受け入れ方法がそれである。事業協同組合等が受け入れ団体となり、傘下の小・零細企業で技能実習を行わせる方法である。これが、技能実習生の約97％を占め、「技能実習」とは名ばかりで、非熟練の単純労働を行わせている。
技能実習生の労働や生活の実態は、目を覆うばかりのひどさだ。賃金や残業代の不払い・未払い、最低賃金に満たない賃金、長時間労働の強制、移動・外出の制限、パスポートの取り上げが行われている。人権無視も甚だしい悪質な雇用主が多すぎる。
ブローカーの餌食
また、現地ブローカーは様々な名目で渡航希望者から過大な費用を徴収し、払えない者を債務奴隷化している。そのため、技能実習生は日本での仕事を失うことを恐れ、過酷な労働や待遇に抗議できない実態がある。
監理団体も、受け入れ企業から出資金、会費、渡航費、渡航後の研修費や研修手当等の一時的費用とは別に、技能実習生１人につき、毎月５万円前後を徴収しているが、企業に対する指導監督が十分ではない。
低賃金の労働力の確保を、民間のブローカーに任せていることは、致命的な欠陥である。企業は、監理団体に支払う過大な費用を回収するために、技能実習生を酷使するからだ。
低賃金の職業の紹介にブローカーの介在を許せば、被害を受けるのは労働者であることは自明だ。
必要なら新制度を
技能実習制度は即刻廃止し、外国人の非熟練労働力がどうしても必要であるなら、新制度を設けるべきである。ただし、以下のことが最低限必要である。
①中間搾取を極力排除するために、２国間の政府間協定を締結し、日本政府が相手国政府と協力し、募集・派遣業務に積極的に関与し、渡航希望者が過大な債務を負担していないか監視すること。
②企業は政府機関に直接申請し、審査を受け、正当な賃金労働条件を守る義務を負うこと。
英訳版↓
No. 1219 Technical Training, but in Nominal Terms
Foreign workers in Japan are recruited in the framework of ‘technical intern training program (TITP)’, but it is a breeding ground of forced labor made from the deplorable working conditions, that is, practically exploitation of cheap and disposable workforce. The system has been accused every year by the reports released by the US Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Report. The program must be abolished as it works against humanitarian principles.
ABOLISH TECHNICAL INTERN TRAINING PROGRAM THAT VIOLATES HUMAN RIGHTS
Objective – far from practices
The purpose of the technical intern training course for foreigners lies in transferring skills, techniques and know-how that Japan has to developing nations and contributing to ‘human resource development’ to help economic growth of countries which send out trainees. But, in fact, the practices imply a means to appropriate cheap labor of unskilled, foreign workers.
In particular, the truth is evident when a supervising organization commits in recruitment; an entrepreneurs’ cooperative invites trainees and sends them to its members, which are usually small and mini-sized businesses with a purpose to let them learn skills. This type of employment holds 97% of the total trainees; that means training is only in name only, being actually a use of simple labor by unskilled workers.
Working conditions and living environment of these foreign employees are awful; non-payment of wage and overtime-work, or payment left outstanding, wages below the minimum wage norms, forced labor for long hours, restrictions on leaving workplace and visits to other places and passport confiscation by the business owners. Many of Japanese employers behave disturbingly, openly violating the human rights.
Trainees are preys of local brokers, too
Another element is existence of brokers in the countries of origin: they collect an excessive sum of money under the various reasons from applicants going abroad. They are made a modern slave when they are unable to pay back. And therefore foreign trainees are afraid of losing his/her job in Japan, which prevents them from protesting their cruel and poor working environment.
Concerning the said supervising organizations, they receive from the member entities more or less 50 thousand Yen monthly per foreign trainee, apart from collecting investment money, members’ fee and temporary expenses for trainees, such as airline tickets, orientation charges and allowances. But the administration on the entities is not sufficient.
The government office in Japan entrusts a private broker to secure cheap labor – this is a fatal error, as employers try to make the best use of foreign workforce as they want in order to retrieve huge expenditure to pay back to the supervising body.
It is obvious that it is workers that suffer when a private broker arranges jobs of cheap labor.
A new system is needed
The current technical intern training program must be immediately repealed. If unskilled, foreign workers are necessary in anyway, a new plan should be established with the following requirements;
July 27, 2021