Japan Press Weekly

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2015 July 1 - 7 TOP3 [POLITICS]

War legislation aims to mobilize civilian workers

A bill to permanently allow the government to dispatch the Japanese Self-Defense Forces abroad at any time, which is a main pillar of the war legislation currently under Diet deliberations, stipulates that the state “can request” private companies to assist the SDF in providing logistic support to foreign troops. Akahata interviewed three former transport workers about the government-proposed war-related bills.

Land transportation is prime target for enemies

Akabane Kazuyuki serves as chair of the All Japan Construction, Transport and General Workers’ Union (Kenkoro), which is affiliated with the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren).

Reflecting on the historical fact that many civilians were forced to support Japan’s war of aggression during World War II, Akabane said, “I cannot tolerate transport workers being forcibly used again as a tool for killing people in other countries.”

Even after the war ended, the Japanese government has taken various measures to involve civilian workers in activities supporting wars abroad. In 1997, the administration created the SDF ready reserve personnel system with the aim of mobilizing private sector workers in case of “emergencies”.

“Under that system, the state grants subsidies to cooperating firms amounting to more than 500,000 yen per employee. A number of private companies suffering from the prolonged economic recession have willingly applied for the system,” said the union leader.

In 1999, 20 unions in the land, sea, and air transport sectors, including Kenkoro, issued a joint statement demanding the scrapping of the bills related to the Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation Guidelines. Those measures were steamrollered through the Diet in defiance of the strong objection from opposition parties, including the Japanese Communist Party.

“Unlike the 1999 law, the war legislation proposed this time aims to send Japanese civilians anywhere in the world to have them assist in U.S.-led wars,” Akabane pointed out.

He went on to say, “It is as clear as day that logistics units will be prime targets for attack. I cannot allow the government to assign civilian workers such dangerous tasks. In the name of the trade union, we will continue to fight to kill the bills.”

Article 9 of Constitution has protected Japanese vessels from attack

Honmo Takashi used to work as a crewmember on oceangoing vessels. During the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, he repeatedly sailed in the Persian Gulf as the first mate on oil tankers. He said that Japanese tankers at that time prominently displayed the Japanese flag with the hope that the flag would protect them from military attack in the Gulf. “We did that because every country knows that Japan renounces war under Article 9 of the Constitution,” Honmo said.

“The proposed war legislation, however, will allow the Self-Defense Forces providing so-called ‘rear area support’ to foreign troops abroad to strike back in case of attack. What the Japanese government calls ‘rear-area support’ is actually logistics support which is the first to be targeted on a battlefield,” he said.

At present under the existing law, private companies are required to cooperate with the Japanese government when an emergency occurs in areas around Japan. The proposed war legislation will remove the geographical restriction, “in areas around Japan”. Honmo pointed out, “The Defense Ministry is concluding charter contracts with maritime shipping companies so that the ministry can use private vessels in times of emergency. The contract is an enticing offer for companies facing business decline.”

He expressed his concern that the government-business military cooperation will be further strengthened if the war legislation is enacted. He said, “High transportation capacity is necessary to send troops to the front. As battle ships are not suitable for large-scale transport of goods, the SDF needs support from private companies. In addition, the Ministry of Defense is reportedly considering mobilizing civilian vessel crews as reserve members of the SDF.”

Honmo called for the scrapping of the war legislation which will drag civilians into military logistics activities.

Civil airplanes vulnerable to terror attacks

Yamaguchi Hiroya, former chairman of the Japan Federation of Aviation Workers’ Unions, gave an American air carrier as an example to warn that commercial airliners would be easy targets for military retaliation.

Pan American Airways was once a leader in the world’s air transport industry but went bankrupt in 1998. Pan Nam flights in the 1980’s were attacked in succession by terrorists, causing a sharp drop in the number of passengers. The payment of an enormous amount of compensation to bereaved families delivered the fatal blow to the airline.

Yamaguchi said, “One of the main reasons for their business failure was the series of terrorist attacks.”

Japan Airlines, where he used to work, had several experiences of being hijacked but has never been targeted for retaliatory military responses. He cited the existence of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution as the reason for this. Japanese commercial air carriers have not transported military supplies because Article 9 renounces the right of belligerency of Japan.

On the other hand, the U.S. Department of Defense has kept pressuring Japanese civil airlines through the government of Japan into getting a qualification of air transportation for U.S. forces. However, the Scheduled Airlines Association of Japan consisting of 12 Japanese airline companies has been refusing to obtain the DOD qualification.

Yamaguchi added, “We, aviation workers, have also been opposing the military use of commercial airlines.”

He argued that an enemy would view an aircraft transporting troops and military goods as a target for direct attack and that crewmembers on board could no longer assure passengers’ safe air travel.