Japan Press Weekly

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2015 March 11 - 17 TOP3 [POLITICS]

Gov’t workers on duty at Henoko don’t want to be in conflict with Okinawan people

A union for central government workers working in Okinawa on March 13 petitioned the state to stop mobilizing government workers for measures to counter local protests against the construction of a new U.S. base in Nago’s Henoko.

In front of the gate of U.S. Camp Schwab, the planned construction site for the new U.S. base, Okinawan citizens have been staging a sit-in protest. As countermeasures, the Abe government is conducting around-the-clock surveillance activities, such as foot patrols at 15-minutes intervals at night. These activities are staffed by central government employees.

The union in its petition pointed out that no government workers assigned to the 24-hour surveillance duty want to be seen to be in conflict with fellow Okinawans. It also criticized the state for its outrageous use of its employees to infringe on people’s right to protest. The union demanded that the government stop excessive countermeasures against the protest action, including the 24-hour monitoring.

The union leader said, “Some government workers on monitoring duty are regarded as siding with the state policy and get pelted with rotten tomatoes, despite their personal opposition to the new U.S. base.”

Last month, on February 27, a union for workers at the Cabinet Office’s Okinawa General Bureau made a representation to the bureau, seeking to put a stop to the government’s measures to monitor local citizens’ opposition to the base construction.