It was 30 years ago when the Sohyo, the General Council of Trade Unions of Japan, was disintegrated to be the Rengo, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC), as a national center of labor movements. Since then the movements have been led by a rule of cooperation between employers and workers. Today trade union movements are in jeopardy.

REBUILD LABOR MOVEMENTS THROUGH JOINT STRUGGLES

Lowering organizational rate

On November 21, 1989, the Rengo held a founding convention to elect Mr. Yamagishi Akira as first Chairman of the workers’ organization. He was President of the association of trade unions of information and communication industries. The Rengo controlled 78 industries, covering 8 million workers, declaring to have integrated four major trade union associations.

Incidentally, Mir Yamagishi was awarded with a first-class prize by the then-Emperor in April, 2000, for ‘his contribution’ that he unified the labor fronts. The Rengo has been called ‘a federation cherished by capitalists’, as you know, in its history. The then-prime minister Takeshita Noboru, who attended the reception party, mentioned his cooperation and assistance to the Rengo.

At the time of foundation, the Rengo leadership told that social influence would be enhanced after uniting labor fronts. Today, however, members have been reduced to 6.753 million as of 2018, and the center’s social impact has been declining.

Meanwhile, trade unions affiliated to the Japanese Communist Party established the Zenroren, the National Confederation of Trade Unions, reacting to the new confederation, calling it right-winger reorganization of labor movements and criticizing its political line of anti-communism and labor-management cooperation. Other unions like the Kokuro, the National Railway Workers’ Union, and the Tororen, the Confederation of Trade Unions of Tokyo Metropolitan Government Workers, asserting ‘to succeed the Sohyo movement without affiliating with either of the new labor centers’, to establish the Zenrokyo, the National Trade Union Council.

However, these labor organizations have diminished membership.

A possibility of nationwide Labor Offensive

Poverty and social gaps have prevailed rapidly for the past 30 years due to flexible employment practices. The social situation has been aggravated further by the downing labor distribution rate and enhanced exploitation as well as the defunct income redistribution measures, including public services. Repeatedly, corporate taxes and income taxes have been reduced, which has led to deterioration of the taxation rule that the rich pay more than the poor.

The nationwide Spring Labor Offensive, which the Sohyo took initiative in a first half of the decade of 1970, was in fact struggles between distribution and redistribution of wealth. Its campaign could have been developed to unification of demands of workers and citizens and a single political front against the monopoly.

For this very reason the financial circle and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party did not admit the Sohyo and its existence.

Let’s strengthen joint struggles!

Labor movements in the country today are in crisis. The Spring Offensive 2019 has been ridiculed as ‘a dead offensive’. On the other hand, however, struggles have been staged broadly beyond the national centers toward construction of a unified movement.

Opposing the Abe government’s 2018 labor policy, ‘a working style reform and labor law revision’, the Zenrokyo and the Zenroren have begun to wage common struggles. A nationwide campaign has been launched to demand a surge of the minimum wage by the joint action committee.

A national meeting will be held in coming December of the Rounken, the Action Committee for Discussions and Rallies on Labor Movements, which endeavors to boost and rebuild the movements. This will be the eighth round of event.

Let’s strengthen joint struggles! Let’s rebuild and develop labor movements!

October 22, 2019