JCP develops dialogue with Rengo local branches on mass restructuring

In an effort to prevent further corporate restructuring and defend job security, Japanese Communist Party local organizations are reaching out to trade unions affiliated with the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) to discuss the problem.

Many Rengo-affiliated local labor councils have expressed support for or agreed with the call for corporate dismissals to be controlled by law and for the work week to be shortened.

A regional Rengo council officer said he is angry at a company management which refuses to take responsibility for its own business failure and dismisses workers instead. He also said the JCP and Rengo have differences but they are struggling for common objectives.

Commenting on NTT's 110,000 job cut plan, an NTT Workers' Union prefectural branch officer said there is no use complaining about it because it is the trend of the times, but added that he can agree with the JCP on many points in the "Appeal."

A Rengo-affiliated trade union in a smaller company said, "Major companies don't have to worry about bankruptcies, but are going ahead with restructuring. This only gives adverse effects on the economy and the companies themselves. The question is not so simple for small- and medium-sized businesses. This is a serious problem for us unions, too."

A Rengo regional council officer said, "We are not so opposed to the JCP as we were in the past. This is good for Rengo, too. I want the JCP to speak for us about our demands for job security, which we cannot discuss publicly." (end)