Doro-Chiba has decided at the 66th Central Committee meeting in the Union House a new policy of struggle: we fight against JR’s (Japan Railway Company) attempts of over-all outsourcing of inspection, repair and yard operations; reorganization of railway bases; and the anti-labor revision of the Employment & Wage System. We fight for the victory of the 2012 Labor Spring Offensive and for the development of a Nation-wide Movement of National Railway Struggle and for further organizing.
We denounce the reactionary decision of the Supreme Court on February 23rd in the case of discrimination in appointment of trainee drivers*, overturning the previous High Court’s judgment. We must point out that the same Supreme Court judge who had ruled in a very similar case concerning Doro-Mito (National Railways Motive Power Union of Mito, a sister union of Doro-Chiba) that JR East had committed an unfair labor practice denied Doro-Chiba’s unfair labor practice claim. How could such a contradictory judgment occur? This is a blatant manifestation of the policy of the Supreme Court to prevent Doro-Chiba from achieving victory in court. This is a self-denial of the judicial system. It cannot be overlooked. Watch out, you judges of the Supreme Court! You must realize that Doro-Chiba is firmly determined to finalize all the issues concerning the Division and Privatization of National Railways through our all-out struggle.
JR continues to refuse Doro-Chiba members who passed the national train driver license exam in early 80s from taking driver’s seats.
On January 27th, JR Chiba Branch Office and Chiba Railway Service Company forced outsourcing of the yard operation in Keiyo Car Center. Even though the job subcontracted right now is for only 8 man-hours a day, it is apparently the first step in an over-all outsourcing drive in coming days. The railway companies tried in vain to conceal a serious accident on this day caused by an inexperienced driver (ex-management staff), who was nominated for the outsourced job. This is an eloquent example of the unlawful practice of outsourcing, which is in fact disguised contract labor. Management, fully aware of this, is forcing through this deceitful outsourcing policy. Here is our enemy’s weak point. We’ll surely win the battle to crush management’s outsourcing policy of if we can grasp this point and concentrate our attack here. Our 10 years of struggle has already proven this.
The JR plan of reorganizing railway bases is already doomed to complete bankruptcy. Now the Chiba Drivers’ Branch and Choshi Branch of Doro-Chiba are waging long-term strikes by designated unionists to refuse preparatory training for the base reorganization. This struggle has succeeded in stopping the planned opening of the new Sakura Transportation Base as a part of a reorganization scheme. This is an unprecedented incident for railway business.
We are resolutely going to crush union busting and fight against scrapping of local lines.
The “political settlement” on April 9, 2010, has triggered an all-out reorganization attack in the JR system of privatization: massive dismissal of contract workers; escalation of outsourcing including station services; anti-labor revision of employment & wage system; renewed betrayal of JR-Soren East; aggravating crisis of JR Freight and three other JR companies in Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku; rapid degeneration of labor bosses of Kokuro (Japan National Railway Workers Union); bankruptcy of JR management and Kakumaru collaboration; endangering of rail safety, etc. JR companies are trying to transfer to workers all burdens caused by the failure of the Division and Privatization of National Railways to evade their responsibility for that and to even justify their attempts.
The neo-liberal offensive started by the Division and Privatization of National Railways must be stopped by all means. As a result of this offensive, 39% of the entire working population (20 million workers in number) has been thrust into irregular employment or working poor and the number of welfare recipients is over 2 million. We should not obscure the issue of the Division and Privatization of the National Railway. Let’s put forward our demands: Withdraw the unjust dismissal of 1047 national railway workers! Stop overall outsourcing of JR! Abolish irregular employment! For a great leap of the Nation-wide movement of national railway struggle!
The Noda Administration declared at the end of last year that “the nuclear crisis is ending”. Stop joking! No problem has been solved. At this moment a hundred thousand accident-affected people are wandering around with no place to settle and radioactive contamination is still expanding. Anger is erupting all over Japan into an uncompromising antagonism against the dominating power. The government, bureaucrats, business circle, bribed scholars and academicians, mass media and corrupt labor union bosses, in a word, the “Nuclear Mafia”, are desperately forcing a nuclear development policy on us no matter how many lives are sacrificed or destroyed.
In the name of “restoration (from the March 11th disaster)”, the administration and the business circle are intent on carrying out their neo-liberal agenda in all spheres of Japanese society and bulldozing the Tohoku region (disaster-stricken Northeast Japan) as well as the entire Japanese nation into a fully privatized entity. A massive tax hike is being planned. A fresh offensive to join in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is on the agenda with the aim of destroying agriculture and thrusting all branches of public service into the market rule of ruthless competition. Hashimoto, mayor of Osaka city, is spearheading this savage attack on working people.
Now is the time militant labor vigorously revives.
Three years have passed since the eruption of the global financial crisis in 2007-2008. Global unemployment figures have reached two hundred million and growing. In Europe, the fiscal crisis is worsening in Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy, etc. and states themselves are going into bankruptcy one after another. This is an unprecedented incident. However, the most serious example of public debt is Japan and the United States. Also, the Chinese bubble economy is finally beginning to collapse. The historical downfall of the capitalist system has begun. Furthermore, this crisis is bringing about military tension in East Asia, which is rapidly developing into war.
However, workers of the world are courageously confronting neo-liberalism. Mounting anger is turning into general strikes, the Occupy Movement, numerous riots and the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions.
Let’s rise up for a struggle to decide the bright future of workers in solidarity with the workers of the world!
Let’s promote Nationwide Movement of National Railway Struggle widely!
Let’s smash outsourcing offensive by all means!
Win victory of the Spring Labor Offensive 2012 with all-out efforts!
Let’s build a society, in which workers play a central role!
Let’s expand our union organization as a crucial task!
We shall crush the political myth of Japanese labor movement, according to which “hard struggle brings about disruption in union” and reconstruct class struggle labor movement.
To achieve this goal we stand up for an all-out struggle to organize a large number of workers in our union.
We declare this in the name of the 66th Central Committee Meeting of Doro-Chiba.