By The Financial District
Mar 28, 20211 min
Foreign workers in Japan, who are essential to the aging country, have been one of the demographic groups most affected by the economic downturn due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to Kyodo News.
While many such workers were fired or furloughed as a result of the economic fallout, some are striving to empower themselves and improve the situation surrounding their employment.
Among them is a Filipino woman living in the central Japan prefecture of Aichi, which has the biggest Filipino population in the country - 39,339 as of late 2019, according to the Justice Ministry, many of whom are employed in the manufacturing sector.
"I'd like to create a good working environment for foreigners," said the woman, who goes by the pseudonym Maria Santos as she worries her union role may hinder her search for a job.
Santos formed a labor union for workers from outside Japan in Aichi last June along with 15 other Filipinos after they were laid off or their fixed-term contracts not renewed in the wake of the pandemic.
Her union named Aichi Migrants Workers aims to help foreign workers and is the first local community-based union for non-Japanese laborers in Aichi.
With the help of a local union named Union Aichi, AMW holds monthly study sessions on Japan's labor systems and laws and as of early March has 24 members from the Philippines.