New Year’s Address for Brothers and Sisters of JRU
Stand Together to Change the Society

　

It is a beginning of another year. Happy New Year!
I really appreciate your strong support for our union campaign. Above all, I express my heartfelt esteem and gratitude for all self-sacrificing efforts to fight for acquittal and reinstatement of JRU7 and Brother Kato.

Against False Charges

Incredible numbers of false charges have been disclosed so far in Japan. The criminal courts in the U.S. and Europe stick to philosophy to respect human rights; philosophy that declares “Even if we fail to convict the ten real culprits, we must not penalize one guiltless person.” If the courts in Japan relied on this philosophy, there could be no false charges including the Ashikaga Case. It is extremely tragic that a guiltless person has been imprisoned for as long as 17 years.
Both the JRU7 Case and the Gamagoori Station Case are approaching the fighting of critical importance in the Supreme Court. In order to protect the right to organize, we need to exert ourselves to fight back with unyielding resolve.

Change of Government, Lower House Election 2009

In hot August last year, we succeeded in change of government through victory in the lower house election. 101 candidates endorsed by JRU won their seats. That was the first change in the history of Japan’s constitutional politics, and was a result of union members’ determination and efforts. The result was not a “victory of the Democratic Party of Japan” but a “defeat of the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito.” It is clear that anger of workers and citizens led to this significant outcome. Neo-liberal policies by the reformist Koizumi, the former prime minister, produced widening disparity and poverty in our society.
We do pledge to do the talking to the new government from a standpoint of a labor union. We will offer to Hatoyama government appropriate information of worksite and make a positive approach to it so that the government will make a wise decision.

Hardship of Workers

Unemployment rate peaked at 5.7% last year and the number of jobless workers is now said to be 3.6 million. However the reality is different. It is estimated that there are far more people who have lost their jobs. What is extremely unsound in Japan is that so many companies have sacked workers as if they were “disposal parts” and layoffs of temp-workers are widespread. A rush of atrocious crimes and ever-increasing suicide committed by over 30,000 people for 11 consecutive years shows how rotten the Japanese society is. No one wants to have a hopeless life where he or she stays unemployed, struggles against hard living and cannot afford to marry or have children. It is our pressing need to drastically reform the relentless “Worker Dispatch Law”. We need to be proactive in changing this society. That is our challenge.

Victory for Kaoru Tashiro!

In this context JRU decided to back up Kaoru Tashiro as a candidate from JRU for the coming Upper House election scheduled to be held in July this year. He will work on behalf of workers to make worksite issues reflected in politics and build a stable union. He will also tackle challenges such as ensuring railway safety, peace, human rights, democracy and fair and equal society.

Change the Society!

Stand together and work hard in order to open the way to the future, showing our firm grit to “change the society”!

Masaharu Takei
President of Japan Confederation of Railway Workers’ Unions (JRU)

(From JRU Public Relations Bulletin)