Unions in 2004 Spring Struggle to call for a pay raise for all workers

The 2004 People's Spring Struggle Joint Struggle Committee on Thursday adopted a policy of demanding wage increase for all workers in the Spring Struggle. The committee comprises the National Trade Union Confederation (Zenroren) and unions with no national affiliation.

Kumagai Kanemichi, the committee's representative director and Zenroren president, said this year's spring struggle has a more serious bearing on workers than ever before, pointing out that 20 percent of listed corporations are expecting record high profits resulting in part from forcing workers to endure further hardships.

The policy stresses five points including wage increases for all workers, an increase in jobs without corporate restructuring, and opposition to the adverse revision of the pension system.

Opposition to the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq and to adverse revision of the Constitution are also important items in the Spring Struggle.

Oki Kazunori, director of the Japan Research Institute of Labor Movements, gave a lecture on the strategy the Japan Business Federation (JBF or Nippon Keidanren) has adopted.

Oki said that the JBF report published late last year indicated that the JBF wants the Japanese people to accept a freer trade in goods, labor, and funds to assure the biggest gains for multinational corporations.

The JBF report also calls for wage cuts and discriminatory wage system, and rigorous performance-based system, and the JBF calls on the government to further adversely revise labor laws. He said that the JBF aims at leaving a majority of workers unorganized and only corporate-based trade unions whose members are a limited number of full-time employees will be allowed to "negotiate" with the management.

Oki concluded his lecture by saying that common action with all groups demanding a wage increase will be the surest blow to the business leaders' strategy. (end)