Japan Press Weekly

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2011 January 12 - 18 [LABOR]

2011 Spring Struggle aims at economic recovery through wage increases

The 2011 People’s Spring Struggle Joint Committee on January 12 adopted a spring struggle action policy and the slogan, “Let’s win a wage increase and job security! Let’s achieve economic recovery led by domestic demand!”

In the action policy, the Joint Committee, which includes the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren), places top priority on increasing all workers’ basic wages by more than 10,000 yen a month, demanding employment stability, and raising the hourly minimum wage to 1,000 yen.

The action policy also calls on union members to put more efforts into struggles against the Democratic Party of Japan-led government’s plans to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade pact and shift the central government’s financial responsibilities to local governments as well as a movement to achieve a drastic revision of the Worker Dispatch Law.

Zenroren President Daikoku Sakuji, also the head of the Joint Committee, pointed out that during the past 12 years, workers’ average annual income fell by 620,000 yen while internal reserves amassed in large corporations reached 244 trillion yen. He stressed the need to increase the strength of workers movements in order to achieve an increase in base wages and in minimum wages as well as to revitalize local economies.

In discussions, a representative of the Saitama Prefectural Confederation of Trade Unions (Sai-Roren) said, “The main task for labor unions is to gain support for our demands from a majority in both workplaces and communities.” A representative of the Japan Federation of Prefectural and Municipal Workers’ Unions (Jichiroren) said, “Our union in the 2011 spring wage struggle will make efforts to secure non-regular workers’ jobs and achieve their equal treatment with full-time workers.”