Society

7-Eleven owners ask for shorter hours

Feb 28 (NHK) - Japan's labor shortage looks anything but convenient for operators of 7-Eleven and other 24-hour outlets. The union of convenience-store owners has asked 7-Eleven Japan to allow them to open for shorter hours. Many operators say they can't find the staff to keep their stores running around-the-clock.

Representatives from the Convenience Store Merchant Union lodged a letter of request on Wednesday at the company's head office in Tokyo.

The move comes as a 7-Eleven store owner in western Japan says he faces a fine for quitting 24-hour operations -- because of the labor shortage. But the company says he is violating his contract.

The union says members have no discretion to decide their hours, and any change must be cleared by head office. They urged 7-Eleven to discuss terms under which franchise owners could scale back their hours.

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