Japan Press Weekly

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2023 December 20 - 2024 January 9 [POLITICS]

Rengo appears to prioritize serving as impediment to opposition parties’ alliance over protecting workers’ labor rights

The president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC/Rengo), Yoshino Tomoko, on December 21 at a press conference called on the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan to refrain from taking part jointly with the Japanese Communist Party even in Civil Alliance-mediated meetings.

The Civil Alliance two weeks earlier held a meeting with the JCP, the CDPJ, the Social Democratic Party, the “Reiwa Shinsengumi” party, and the parliamentary group “Okinawa Whirlwind”, and requested that the Civil Alliance-proposed 5-item agenda constitute a part of their common policies for the next general election.

Regarding this meeting, Yoshino said, “Some Rengo union members were agitated by a news photo in which the CDPJ and the JCP leadership stood side-by-side.” She went on to say, “If the CDPJ, with the Civil Alliance as an intermediary, takes some action together with the JCP, this concerns me.”

Takachiho University Professor Gonoi Ikuo, who is a political science scholar, said that Rengo’s move to serve as an impediment to opposition parties’ joint struggle is tantamount not only to obstructing moves toward government change but also to abandoning the trade union role in protecting workers’ labor rights.

Past related article:
> Opposition parties agree on common agenda as put forth by Civil Alliance [December 8, 2023]