On 16 November 2010, Mr. Keiichi Okano, President of Friends Cooperative Association in Hiroshima came to meet with Mr. Kamol Sawatchukeo, Minister Counsellor (Labour) to discuss and find ways to promote & extend Thai trainees quota and Thai trainee cares at the Office of Labour Affairs in Japan. The details are summarized as following:
On 16 November 2010, Mr. Keiichi Okano, President of Friends Cooperative Association in Hiroshima came to meet with Mr. Kamol Sawatchukeo, Minister Counsellor (Labour) to discuss and find ways to promote & extend Thai trainees quota and Thai trainee cares at the Office of Labour Affairs in Japan. The details are summarized as following:
1) Friends Cooperative Association initiated to accept trainees in 2004, where it only accepted Thai trainers. Until now it has accepted 409 trainees. At present, it has approximately 160 Thai trainees under its supervision. They currently train with 30 companies and will finish their training in March 2011. The Association wants to accept additional 30 Thai trainees. Almost 80 percent of trainees receive welding training in a Ship Building Industry in Hiroshima. Others receive training in a furniture industry.
2) Mr. Kenichi Okano notified that in mid-2010, it established another office branch in Tokyo in order to expand the market and oversee the acceptance of trainees in Kanto region (Tokyo, and 8 Tokyo nearby provinces). Many accepting companies have expressed their interest to accept trainees to train in agricultural sector.
3) Friends Cooperative Association has provided good care of trainees. However, there are still problems where Thai trainees try to run away. If the number of run-away trainee exceeds 10 percent of the total trainees, the Association will be penalized and banned from accepting trainees for 3 years by the Immigration. Another problem related to Thai trainees is the over-consumption of alcohol. Sometime, they are unable to work. The Association has notified sending organizations to improve its selection process and train trainees before their travelling. The problem of over-consumption of alcohol has largely improved. Trainees came to Japan since mid-2010, have not been found to over-consume alcohol. They are also keen to learn Japanese, which has largely improved the image of Thai trainees.
4) Since July 2010, Japan has enforced new-amended laws related to training system. New arrival trainee is required to receive pre-training program for at least 1 month (in a case where he has already received pre-training program from Thailand for at least 2 months) before he is allowed to receive further practical training for 35 months until he completes his 3 year training program. Trainee has to be paid no less than the set minimum wage level in his work area and he is protected by Japanese Labour Protection and Social Security Laws. During their first month training, trainee also receives an allowance. According to the Japanese laws, it specifies a “sufficient” amount of allowance for a trainee to make a living during pre-training period. At present, Department of Employment considers to set the allowance at 70,000 Yen, where the Association notifies that the allowance set by Department of Employment is more than other countries rates, which are normally set between 40,000 and 50,000 Yen. This could disadvantage the market of Thai trainees.
5) Minister Counselor (Labour) expressed appreciation to the Friends Cooperative Association on its support for and acceptance of Thai trainees. He also agreed with the Association upon the establishment of the new office branch in Kanto, which would improve the market and the overseeing of trainees. As for the problem of run-away Thai trainees, he seeks cooperation from the Office of Labour Affairs in Japan to search for them. Minister of Counselor will be pleased to participate as a guest lecturer in future pre-training program for trainees in order to give new trainees useful ideas, which he thinks will partly reduce problems of run-away trainees and over-consumption of alcohol. As for the training allowance which is set higher than other foreign trainees, Office of Labour Affairs in Japan and Department of Employment had carefully reviewed the issue before it adopted this rate and they think it is suitable for the Japanese high living standard. However, it will take a review on the rate again and propose to Department of Employment for consideration.
