Organize International United Action against nuclear plants and
unemployment!
Withdraw the dismissal of 1047 national railway workers!
Abolish casual employment system!
Build up a nationwide network of militant labor unions to fight against
neo-liberalism!
Call for endorsement to and participation
in
November 6 National Workers’ All-Out Rally
Solidarity Union of Japan Construction and Transport Workers Kansai Area
Branch
(Kan-Nama)
Metal and Machinery Workers’ Union in Osaka (Minato-Godo)
National Railway Motive Power Union of Chiba (Doro-Chiba)
Nationwide Movement against the Division and privatization of National
Railway
and the Reinstatement of 1047 National Railway Workers
(Nationwide Movement of National Railway Struggle)
Fighting workers across the nation and all over the world!
On March 11, the East Japan Earthquake, Tsunami and subsequent nuclear
disaster killed tens of thousands of people and destroyed the lives and
jobs of many people in an instance. Millions of people all over the country
including the affected areas are exposed to high-level of radioactivity
and now in mortal danger. Moreover, people are facing a great wave of
unemployment. Farming and fisheries were deeply impacted. Already hundreds
of thousands of workers have lost their jobs and forced to live in dire
poverty. The government is planning to promote drastic tax hike and dismantlement
of the social security system.
Most of these things were caused by neo-liberal offensives. For instance, the public infrastructure was completely dismantled as a result of privatization, local governments were pushed into financial collapse, the number of public workers has been endlessly decreased and so on. Since the Privatization and Division of National Railways, the neo-liberal policies have diminished the power to prepare against disasters, resulting in an unimaginable catastrophe. On top of it, the Fukushima nuclear disaster revealed the corrupt governance mechanism. All the whole ruling class of this society—the government, bureaucrats, business circles, bribed scholars, mass media, courts, co-opted labor unions—are tainted by cozy and corrupt vested interests. They, having an urge to equip our country with nuclear arms, promoted the nuclear energy policy by telling people a bunch of lies. It was the crimes of the government and capital that brought about the catastrophe.
The government still conceals the truth and insists that the radiation
level is safe and it does not pose a health risk.
There is a mounting anger across the nation. This public outrage is expressed
through many protest actions against the government and the Tokyo Electric
Power Company (TEPCO), developing into the struggle to live through. Especially,
the growing anger of 2 million people of Fukushima, having been deprived
of everything, is reaching to the boiling point.
On June 11, a big protest action was carried out at the Sinjuku Station
East Square in Tokyo. Over 20 thousand protesters gathered there and the
shouts of “anti-nuclear” and “anti-unemployment”
filled the streets around the downtown area. One of the endorser unions,
Kan-Nama, set up a relief center in the affected area to fund with their
pay raise that they have won through their spring labor offensive of this
year. Minato-Godo and Doro-Chiba are also striving hard to fight with
the people in the affected areas.
On the other hand, labor movements are now threatened with a serious
crisis. In the circumstances of the reactionary offensive of the government
and capital to force upon us nationalism such as the “general mobilization
to confront nation’s adversity” under the name of “reconstruction”,
the co-opted labor unions are giving up every struggle and abandoning
the class point of view. What is now happening is just the same dangerous
situation, in which workers are forced to go for war as a soldier.
The Japanese government and the business circles are attempting to designate
the affected areas as “Reconstruction Special Zones” where
every regulation would be abolished to force workers into thoroughly low
wage, privatized/outsourced, temporary works. With the government in command,
public service workers get pay cut. What is more, all of 3.6 million public
service workers are to be fired at once and rehired selectively as temporary
workers under the name of the “Reform of Local Government Employee
System”. 160 thousand postal temporary workers who work under the
fixed-term contract are on the verge of being fired and turned adrift.
Now is the time for all workers to stand up for a powerful struggle against
nuclear plants and unemployment from their working places.
Capitalist system is on the verge of meltdown. The global economic crisis
triggered by the Lehman Shock three years ago caused full-scale financial
collapse in the US, EU countries and Japan. They are trying to escape
their current desperate conditions by taking a toll on the workers. Above
all things, we now need to revitalize fighting labor unions.
The Division and Privatization of National Railway drove labor movements
to step back and to give up their basic labor rights. That is why we are
consistently insisting that we should not obscure the point of this offensive.
However, last year on April 9, we faced a crucial situation. It was a
decisive attack to dismantle the struggle to reinstate 1047 fired National
Railway Workers. The so-called “political settlement” was
agreed and in July this year the declaration to end the struggle was announced,
ignoring the social and legal responsibility of massive lay-offs and state-sponsored
crime to collapse labor unions by privatizing and setting up unfair labor
practices. Under such crucial situation, we have started the new labor
movement with the slogan of “Don’t put out the fire of National
Railway Workers’ Struggle”. The purpose of our movement is
to make a class unity of workers across the nation. We support independent
efforts at work places to organize struggles no matter how small a struggle
is.
Kan-Nama waged a general strike for 139 days and is playing its way to
a victory successfully fighting back against a ferocious crackdown. Doro-Chiba
has been consistently blocking the outsourcing plan of Japan Railways
(JR) by waging strikes for many times. Minato-Godo has kept confronting
corporate bankruptcy and subsequent discharge through organizing workers
of small and medium enterprises and achieving victories by the unity of
all the workers. People of Okinawa and farmers of Sanrizuka bring an outburst
of fierce angry voice.
We need to unite the power of all workers of the world to confront the
situation that is unprecedented in human history.
We call on an international united action on November 6 to fight against
nuclear plants and unemployment.
Let’s get together in Hibiya and raise a big angry voice.
We call on all who share same aspiration to endorse to, and to participate
in November 6 National Workers’ All-Out Rally.
August, 2011
TITLE of the Rally:
Organize an International United Action against nuclear plants and unemployment!
Withdraw the dismissal of 1047 national railway workers! Abolish casual
employment system! Build up a nationwide network of militant labor unions
to fight against neo-liberalism! November 6 National Workers’ All-Out
Rally
Date: Sunday, November 6, 2011
Time: At 12:00 noon
Venue: Hibiya Open Air Stage, Tokyo