 General workers union activists discuss next year's spring offensive Activists of the National Council of General Amalgamated Workers' Union affiliated with the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenkoku Ippan-Zenroren) held a meeting on December 18 - 19 in Kanagawa Prefecture to discuss ways to win a wage increase and other demands for better working conditions and rights in the 2005 Spring Struggle. Zenkoku Ippan-Zenroren is a national union that organizes individual workers irrespective of category of job or type of employment. In the discussion on wage increase demands, participants talked about the importance of developing the struggle by taking into account the needs of part-time and local workers. The themes discussed in the meeting also included the efforts to establish a uniform national minimum wage system and promote small- and medium-size enterprises based on the constitutional provision that "all people shall have the right to maintain the minimum standards of wholesome and cultured life" (Article 25). Participants expressed determination to make their union stronger. Zenkoku Ippan-Zenroren increased their membership by nearly 400 during its autumn campaign. (end) |