Japan Press Weekly

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2013 December 18 - 24 [LABOR]

Rengo-affiliate union surveys their members’ political leanings

Members of a Rengo-affiliate union have stood against the union’s survey on who they voted for in the July Upper House election, demanding that the union stop conducting such surveys and dispose the collected data.

In the House of Councilors proportional representation election, the Japan Federation of Basic Industry Workers’ Union (Kikanroren) which consists of such industries as steel and heavy equipment manufacturers requested its members to vote for a Democratic Party candidate who was an executive official of the union. However, he failed to win although he was the incumbent. The number of votes he obtained did not even reach half of the union membership of 260,000.

Kikanroren recently conducted a questionnaire survey of its members under the pretext that the union uses survey results for realizing union demands. In the survey, it asked the members not only basic information such as age and job category but also whether they voted for the union-based candidate in the election.

Many Kikanroren members submitted to the union protest statements calling for discontinuation of the survey.

One member accused the union of investigating its members’ political thoughts by saying that it is inexcusable for labor unions and that the union should keep in mind its original role of uniting workers beyond differences in political standpoints and working to achieve better working conditions for all workers. Another member also criticized the questionnaire for violating people’s freedom of thoughts and beliefs.

Kikanroren in its reply to members’ criticisms argued that the survey does not infringe on the freedom of thought and conscience.