NEWSWORTHY
Mountain biking project creates job opportunities in depopulated Aichi Prefecture district
An ongoing project to create employment opportunities in the depopulated Inabu district of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, is beginning to bear fruit, as a college student and two other people accepted job offers of working five days a week — three at a local factory ...
Oregon vineyards face losses amid concerns about wildfire smoke taint
Some Oregon lawmakers and winery owners scrambled Thursday to help a dozen vineyard owners who face the prospect of tons of grapes withering on the vine after a California company abruptly canceled contracts to buy the grapes worth millions of dollars over fears they ...
Veteran Amazon workers say they would prefer to keep getting bonuses and shares over $15 an hour
Amazon's announcement that it would raise its hourly minimum wage to $15 has been seen as a win for workers. But some longtime employees say they are losing out. Those who already made $15 will get an extra dollar an hour when the change is ...
Thousands of Northern California hotel workers join strike over Marriott wage gripe
Thousands of housekeepers, cooks and other workers at Marriott-affiliated hotels went on strike in San Francisco and San Jose Thursday after months of negotiations for a wage increase. Unite Here Local 2 union spokesman Ted Waechter says about 2,500 Marriott hotel workers were picketing outside ...
More cases of work-linked deaths and illnesses revealed at Mitsubishi Electric
Of four employees at the firm who suffered mental and physical illnesses due to work, two killed themselves, company officials revealed Thursday.
Support group for Vietnamese residents in Japan offers help with health and jobs
A support group for Vietnamese residents in Japan has been established in Tokyo, aiming to help them land lawful jobs and ease their difficulties in daily life, amid concerns about some who turn to crime. The Vietnam Mutual Aid Association in Japan says it will ...
At least 11 Japanese local governments have been found to have padded data on the proportion of people with disabilities on their payrolls. The education board of Tochigi Prefecture said Wednesday they had included workers who were taking leave due to mental illnesses as employees ...
Companies across Japan take action to protect employees from unruly customers
A campaign is underway among Japanese companies to clarify rules that protect employees from unruly customers as labor shortages drive public-facing industries to improve their work conditions. In one example, taxi companies keen to stem an exodus of drivers are setting strict guidelines that allow ...
Japan's demand for foreign workers may soften immigration policy, albeit slowly
Shinichiro Tsukada says his small plastering company in Tokyo wouldn't survive without the 22 Chinese and Vietnamese workers who make up half his payroll. "They're treasures, real treasures," he said. "Workers are disappearing as our population ages. Buildings cannot be built because there aren't enough ...
Japan sets goals for companies to prevent deaths from overwork
Workers will benefit from a guaranteed interval between each day’s work and the next, but the plan did not specify how long the break must be.
Dozens of activists tried to install a bronze statue symbolizing laborers forcibly taken to Japan during its rule over the Korean Peninsula between 1910 and 1945.
Labor reform bill passed by Japanese government despite opposition criticism
The government approved a bill Friday aimed at addressing the nation's chronic overwork problem despite opposition criticism that the envisioned legislation could exacerbate long working hours. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government wants the measure passed by the end of the current Diet session that ends ...
