Government workers' union resolves to recover public services

Japan Press Weekly

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Government workers' union resolves to recover public services

The Federation of National Public Service Employees' Unions (Kokko-roren) on August 27-29 held its regular convention in Tokyo. The adopted action plan emphasizes the importance of having discussion with the general public as part of the effort to reverse the cutbacks in various public services.

Kokko-roren General Secretary Okabe Kan'ichi in the closing speech stated, "As 'public servants', government workers have the duty to improve people-first administrative, budgetary, and judicial operations."

Resisting further cutbacks in public services, Kokko-roren will struggle to establish a people-first administration and finance, and oppose the proposal to reorganize the present 47 prefectures into a smaller number of administrative regions (do/shu) that will reduce the central government responsibility as much as possible. It will also restore basic labor rights to government workers.

Kokko-roren will hold town meetings and discussions with local governments, make representations to local assemblies, and collect signatures.

In the face of increasing attacks on public service employees, including the largest ever wage cuts, the government workers' unions will work harder to improve their working conditions and win a wage increase for all government workers, including part timers. It will also demand the establishment of laws and ordinances governing public compacts and increase the struggle to block any adverse revision of the Constitution.

The convention set the goal of collecting one million signatures in the coming campaign calling for improvement in public services.

On the first day of the Convention, Kokko-roren President Miyagaki Tadashi called on government workers to fulfill their role "to ensure people's lives and create a peaceful society guided by the Constitution," adding that "national public service employees are bound by duty to defend the Constitution."

During the discussion, many speakers emphasized the need to secure a sufficient workforce.

A Justice Ministry Workers' Union delegate said: "Various problems as well as mistakes are increasing due to personnel cuts and increasing outsourcing of work to the private sector."

A Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry worker said, "It has become more and more difficult to manage even the normal maintenance of bridges and roads."

Another delegate from the same union said, "I have suffered from depression due to a heavy workload forcing me to work 1,000 hours of overtime a year."

A delegate from the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry Workers' Union said, "To solve problems that arise from the mismanagement of the pension system, we must demand a freeze on the plan to privatize the Social Insurance Agency and keep pension-specialist workers."

Delegates also took up the issue of the working poor among part-time government workers and outsourced workers, and many agreed to the need for a law governing public compacts to protect employment and working conditions for tall public service workers.

- Akahata, August 31, 2009