ID :
38467
Thu, 01/01/2009 - 21:43
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/38467
The shortlink copeid
Nearly 150 homeless people have uneasy New Year's Day in Tokyo park
TOKYO, Jan. 1 Kyodo -
Nearly 150 homeless people including laid-off temp workers had an uneasy New
Year's Day in a Tokyo park Thursday with little prospect of finding a place to
sleep or landing a new job in the Japanese economy which has been in deep
recession.
At Hibiya Park in front of the Imperial Hotel, one of the country's most
luxurious hotels, people who have nowhere to stay lined up in cold winds near a
temporary tent city for free food and drink provided by volunteer workers.
''I can feel at ease here,'' a 38-year-old man who has been unemployed and had
nowhere to go since mid-December said watching a group of volunteers who were
busy cooking Japanese-style ''curry and rice'' for dinner.
The homeless man said he was forced to leave his apartment after being fired as
a part-time worker at a factory in Shizuoka Prefecture and stayed at a friend's
home in Yokohama until last week.
''But my friend had some plans for himself during the New Year's break. So I
had nowhere to go,'' he said.
Some 20 labor unions and civic groups launched the ''year-crossing temp worker
village'' project Wednesday at the park, providing food and offering places to
stay, mainly to help dismissed temp workers who ended up homeless on the
streets on New Year's Eve.
A growing number of temp workers including younger people have ended up
homeless this winter in Japan after being laid off suddenly and told to
immediately leave accommodations provided by their employers.
Lawyers and staff members of labor unions also gave practical advice to people
trying to find a job in one of the tents in the park. The organizers even gave
the homeless job hunters resume sheets and took a photo of them to be attached
to the resume free of charge.
Shuichiro Sekine, one of key organizers of the event, urged the government to
take action to deal with the growing number of jobless and homeless people in
Japan.
''Those who had to come here have been deprived of their job, home and basic
right to live,'' said Sekine, secretary general of the Temporary Workers'
Union.
Sekine said the organizers had planned to prepare food for up to 200 people for
meals at one time. ''But we found we had totally underestimated the
seriousness. Today, we're going to cook meals for 300 people.''
The organizers say they plan to continue the project through Monday, when most
government and business entities resume operation after the year-end and New
Year's holidays.
The government has estimated that 85,012 temporary workers and other
non-regular employees in Japan could lose their jobs between October and next
March against the backdrop of the global recession.
==Kyodo
Nearly 150 homeless people including laid-off temp workers had an uneasy New
Year's Day in a Tokyo park Thursday with little prospect of finding a place to
sleep or landing a new job in the Japanese economy which has been in deep
recession.
At Hibiya Park in front of the Imperial Hotel, one of the country's most
luxurious hotels, people who have nowhere to stay lined up in cold winds near a
temporary tent city for free food and drink provided by volunteer workers.
''I can feel at ease here,'' a 38-year-old man who has been unemployed and had
nowhere to go since mid-December said watching a group of volunteers who were
busy cooking Japanese-style ''curry and rice'' for dinner.
The homeless man said he was forced to leave his apartment after being fired as
a part-time worker at a factory in Shizuoka Prefecture and stayed at a friend's
home in Yokohama until last week.
''But my friend had some plans for himself during the New Year's break. So I
had nowhere to go,'' he said.
Some 20 labor unions and civic groups launched the ''year-crossing temp worker
village'' project Wednesday at the park, providing food and offering places to
stay, mainly to help dismissed temp workers who ended up homeless on the
streets on New Year's Eve.
A growing number of temp workers including younger people have ended up
homeless this winter in Japan after being laid off suddenly and told to
immediately leave accommodations provided by their employers.
Lawyers and staff members of labor unions also gave practical advice to people
trying to find a job in one of the tents in the park. The organizers even gave
the homeless job hunters resume sheets and took a photo of them to be attached
to the resume free of charge.
Shuichiro Sekine, one of key organizers of the event, urged the government to
take action to deal with the growing number of jobless and homeless people in
Japan.
''Those who had to come here have been deprived of their job, home and basic
right to live,'' said Sekine, secretary general of the Temporary Workers'
Union.
Sekine said the organizers had planned to prepare food for up to 200 people for
meals at one time. ''But we found we had totally underestimated the
seriousness. Today, we're going to cook meals for 300 people.''
The organizers say they plan to continue the project through Monday, when most
government and business entities resume operation after the year-end and New
Year's holidays.
The government has estimated that 85,012 temporary workers and other
non-regular employees in Japan could lose their jobs between October and next
March against the backdrop of the global recession.
==Kyodo
