Upper House election campaign in support of JCP develops in workplaces

Japanese Communist Party members and supporters in workplaces in Osaka are developing activities to contact all workers to call on them to vote for the JCP in the July 29 House of Councilors election.

Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro's "sweeping reform" plans, which encourage corporate restructuring, are repugnant to many workers. This is a topic mainly discussed in the campaign.

The JCP supporters' group in a workplace of Hankyu Corp., a railway company, has decided to call on more than 70 percent of the workers to volunteer to help the JCP campaign.

With this bold initiative implemented, it has become clear that workers are paying more attention to the JCP than ever before and turning their backs on Koizumi.

A railway worker said, "I first had high expectations of Prime Minister Koizumi's reform plan. But I now know that the law has allowed the company to carry out spin-offs, and that our working conditions are worsening."

Another said, "Our workload has been greatly increased after the personnel cut, and I now know that this is because the government does not care for us at all."

When the JCP supporters' group distributed fliers at the gate of the car inspection plant, all workers, including middle-managers, accepted them. Some employees stopped and began discussions with JCP supporters.

A worker said, "The coalition of the Liberal Democratic, Komei and New Conservative parties must be ended because they do nothing to control corporate restructuring. What does the JCP say about the employment question?"

The JCP supporters' group also visited the Hankyu Workers' Union, which is affiliated with the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) and explained the JCP's economic recovery policy. In a meeting with the union leaders, they exchanged opinions on the need for rules to be established in the workplace to defend railway worker from deregulations which impose heavier workloads in disregard of the safety and health of bus operators."

At Daihatsu, an Osaka-based automaker, in which the company union is working for a Democratic Party candidate in the Upper House election, JCP supporters' association members are actively joining with workers in the discussions about the possible restructuring that is likely to cost jobs.

At a shop-floor meeting to discuss the question of the worker transfer plan, a worker, who had never spoken at such a meeting, surprised others by saying, "The union exists to safeguard its members lives. It must cease to be the company's yes-man. The task of the union should be to secure jobs in the workplace."

JCP Supporters' Association members at that meeting explained the JCP proposal that worker transfers must not be carried out without the consent of the workers and their families. They called on participants to support the JCP in the election so that the company's selfish restructuring will be thwarted by a major JCP advance." (end)