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Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Zenroren starts nationwide campaign for a fair Japan

The National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) on March 17 launched a new nationwide campaign in which union "caravans" will travel across Japan to rouse public demands to defend people's lives from cutbacks and privatization in public services under Koizumi's "structural reform" policy.

This is part of an undertaking that the Zenroren task force is carrying out with the aim of strengthening the labor struggle to help create a new Japan.

At the starting gathering in Tokyo, the chief of the "another Japan task force" said in his speech, "The Koizumi's 'structural reform' policy has created a few 'winners' and many 'losers.' Most people nowadays suffer more hardships in their lives."

Expressing his determination to redress social inequality and create a new Japan in which people can live without anxiety, he called on the public to take part in this effort together.

The caravans will spend a month traveling to every prefecture across the nation, taking part in various activities such as marching in the streets, holding rallies, and visiting municipal offices to make representations.

Zenroren late last year formed the "another Japan task force" to promote a campaign to bring about a new Japan by increasing public opinion in opposition to the widening of economic disparities due to Koizumi's quest to achieve a "smaller government."
- Akahata, March 18, 2006