Harbor workers sit in against deregulation
About 200 port and harbor workers on November 6 staged a sit-in protest against deregulation in port and harbor businesses in front of the Land, Infrastructure and Transportation Ministry.
The demonstration was organized by the National Council of Dockworkers' Unions of Japan (NCDUJ).
The government has already eased the restriction on entry of other businesses into harbor services and on service fees of nine major harbors, and is now planning to introduce similar deregulation in other ports.
In the nine deregulated ports, the business climate is deteriorating due to the prolonged economic recession and changes in distribution businesses. Companies are forced to cut their personnel and take other measures to restructure themselves. The number of work-related accidents is also increasing.
At the sit-in protest, the workers expressed solidarity with the International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union (ILWU) on the U.S. West Coast. The ILWU is struggling to achieve their demands in the agreement with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA, consisting of multinational shipping companies and international shipping transit agents). The PMA wants to remove ILWU's influence and its members from the core of shipping services.
Yasuda Kenji, NCDUJ president, said the problem is not only for the ILWU. Nippon Yusen K. K., Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd., and Mitsui OSK Lines are Japanese shipping giants and PMA members. PMA's attack against the ILWU is a sign of future adverse moves in Japan, Yasuda said. (end)