Rengo leader expresses opposition to wartime legislation

The president of Japan's largest national trade union center has warned that the government must not rush to get the contingency legislation enacted in the current Diet session.

Sasamori Kiyoshi, president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), made the remark in a speech to a May Day assembly in Tokyo on April 27.

Stressing that the public has deep concerns about the meaning of emergencies (which the legislation is about) and the possible restrictions on citizens' rights, he called on the government to "earnestly listen to public opinion."

Sasamori said that the task now is for "government to seek to achieve economic recovery and stable employment, and compile a supplementary budget for it."

Rengo is expected to publish its view on the contingency legislation.

Sasamori also used his speech to demand that Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro's government shift its policy to one of removing public uncertainty about jobs and elderly people's living conditions. "If the Koizumi Cabinet refuses to listen to the people, we will demand that the House of Representatives be dissolved for a general election."

The May Day celebration organizers said that about 100,000 people attended the rally. For the first time, registered non-governmental organizations and non-profit organizations were members of the May Day Organizing Committee. (end)