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Women Opening Doors

Voices of Japanese Women temporary and part-time workers

2004 / VHS / color / 23min.

Produced by Video Juku

　　　

Equality Action 2003　　　　　　

Asian Women Workers’ Center

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Women Opening Doors

There is an enormous gap in Japan in terms of wages and benefits between full-time workers and those in the category of "casual workers," which includes part-time, temporary and contract workers. More than half of Japan’s working women fall into this latter category, and are forced to work under conditions of great insecurity due to severely limited contract periods.

This video highlights a number of different case studies of women "casual workers" who have taken action with regard to the following situations:

· Denial of full-time positions due to age or other factors, with re-categorization as ambiguous "full-time part-time" workers who must work the same hours as full-timers minus the benefits

· Management changes in the supermarket industry, where non-protected part-timers have become the mainstay and full-timers are increasingly under threat of being forced out of their jobs

· Poor working conditions within the home care worker industry, where workers struggle to see their job as a valid profession

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Equality Action 2003 is a nationwide women's networking group in Japan that aims to bring equal treatment to the work place.