JCP asks other parties to cooperate to force corporate heads to testify in Diet

Japan Press Weekly

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JCP asks other parties to cooperate to force corporate heads to testify in Diet

The Japanese Communist Party called on other parties to cooperate to have the Diet subpoena heads of major corporations and business organizations to testify before the House of Representatives Budget Committee.

JCP Head of the Secretariat Ichida Tadayoshi on February 9 and 10 met separately with secretaries general of the Liberal Democratic, Democratic, Komei, Social Democratic, and People's New parties and presented them with the following letter:

Sweeping mass layoffs of temporary and other contingent workers by major corporations are leading to a collapse of the jobs market. Most of these layoffs are illegal even under the present labor laws. Although large corporations with huge amounts of internal reserves are financially viable to continue operations without dismissing workers, they are failing to fulfill their social responsibility.

If this situation continues, the job market collapse will be even more extensive and serious as many contingent workers are likely to be denied contract renewals in 2009. This will not only endanger the very survival of workers and their families, but accelerate the economic downturn.

The task now is for the Diet, the highest organ of state power, to take every possible measure to put a stop to the job market collapse. We believe that it is essential to promptly summon representatives of the large corporations and the business organizations that are responsible for the current job market collapse, so that they can be called upon to fulfill their corporate social responsibilities.

The Diet has set precedents for issuing such subpoenas. In 1974, when the oil crisis prompted large corporations to resort to 'buying-up" and 'hoarding", which caused a 'frantic price rise", the people's livelihoods were hard hit, and the Diet summoned representatives of 20 companies, including major trading firms, banks, and business organizations as well as the Petroleum Association of Japan, to testify before a Diet committee. Thus, the Diet played a role in ending the outrageous corporate behavior as a result of intensive discussions with these witnesses present. At the collapse of the economic bubble and the ensuing financial crisis, the Diet summoned representatives of major banks and their association to the Diet to answer questions over their extraordinary reluctance to lend money.

In this present economic crisis, described as a type of crisis that occurs only once in a hundred years, the Diet should follow these past examples so that it can give full play to its role as the highest organ of state power. The JCP proposes holding an intensive Diet committee discussion by summoning representatives of the major economic organizations and large corporations to answer questions at the House of Representative Budget Committee meeting that is discussing the FY 2009 national budget draft. The JCP calls on all other parties to work together to accomplish this.

- Akahata, February 11, 2009