Freitag, 20. Juli 2012
Doro Chiba Quake Report No. 44
Revive Labor Unions and Dismantle
All Nuclear Reactors!
Take back labor solidarity
and crush neo-liberalism!
1 Confrontation to radioactive-exposed work is the vital issue of all the
workers
400,000 nuclear plant workers are exposed to radioactivity
Disposal work of debris has made it a national issue
The number of the workers who are contaminated through the work in nuclear plant has
increased during the 1980’ and further in the first half of 1990’s and stayed in high level
till today. In the last thirty years, 1.3 million workers have been engaged in nuclear
plants in all and one third or at least one fourth of them are said to have been
radioactively contaminated. In actual figure it amounts to 300,000 or 400,000 workers.
Capitalist society is based upon the profit gained by capitalists through exploitation of
workers as labor power commodity. In case of “irradiated labor”, or labor exposed to
radioactive contamination, it is not a simple matter of exploitation. Nuclear plant
workers are steadily driven to death in their daily work. All through the process of labor,
they must suffer from physical as well as mental damage, which accumulates the causes
of their approaching death in their soul and body. Though labor is in its essence an
expression of human life and power, nuclear plant labor itself is an activity to hurt and
ruin workers in every moment. It is an outrageous inversion and deformation of human
activity and life.
The issue of “irradiated labor”, or labor exposed to radioactive contamination, has now
become a problem of common and general interest for workers and inhabitants not only
of nuclear plants and radioactively-hit regions but also for workers in all kind of work
places and every areas of Japan, as Noda administration pushes forward a policy of
“wide area solution of debris disposal” to remove a huge amount of contaminated
rubbles from the stricken regions to the other part of Japan. Among others, the most
seriously concerned workers are transport workers, such as JR (Japan Railway
Company) Freight, municipality workers, education workers and postal workers who are
forced to deal with contamination in respective ways. A harsh confrontation in work
place as well as in community is inevitable against governmental attempt of coercion of
radioactive contamination on working people.
Abolish nuclear plants in succession of militant tradition of Den-san (Electric
Power
Workers Union)
How should working class and labor union fight against the crucial issue of “irradiated
labor”?
We have already two exemplar struggles: one is the strike waged by Doro-Mito
(National Railway Motive Power Union of Mito) against the compulsion of “irradiated
labor” last October; the other is daily struggle of Koriyama Railway Factory workers of
Kokuro (National Railway Workers Union) under heavy contamination in a region about
60 km far from Fukushima Daiichi. These struggles have clearly shown how to fight
nuclear plant as labor union.
It is an unpardonable surrender to the capital and the state to accept to work for
“irradiated labor”. We need to reconstruct militant labor union and labor movement to
confront “irradiated labor” in order to defend workers’ lives by their own power.
The struggle against “irradiated labor” surely opens up a way to force capital and state
to abolish all nuclear plants. Without uprising of nuclear plant workers, complete
abolition of nuclear plants is impossible.
It should be made clear that we need, for the achievement of organizing nuclear plant
workers, to overthrow the corrupt leadership of electric industry labor union who is
playing the major role of promoting nuclear plant business. The Denryoku-Soren
(Confederation of Electric Power Related Industry Workers Union of Japan), which
abandons its responsibility for the defense of workers health and life, doesn’t deserve
the name of labor union!
We call on all workers of electric-industry-related work place to rise up for a struggle to
restore militant labor union, beyond the wall of unionized or non-unionized workers, of
regular or irregular job. Our effort should be concentrated to transform the existing
union, Denryoku-Soren, from the bottom by the power of rank and file workers.
Through this struggle we’ll surely be able to overcome the once dominant policy based
on the false ideology of “nuclear energy for peaceful purpose” (or “Atoms for Peace”)
advocated essentially by Japan Communist Party. It is not enough to criticize the above-
mentioned policy by saying, “Construction of nuclear plant is aimed at nuclear re-
armament of Japan”. The core problem is that nuclear plant can’t exist without
“irradiated labor” of workers. The fatal point of the “peaceful purpose” policy lies on the
recognition of “irradiated labor”, which means destruction of health and life of working
class. This was the common defect and weakness of the post-war labor movement as
well as anti-nuke, anti-nuclear plant movement in Japan.
Now labor union should make it the crucial and fundamental agenda of its own to tackle
with the issue of “irradiated labor”, inner contamination and low-level contamination.
The burning task of labor union is to fight against neo-liberal offensive whose pillar is
nuclear energy politic as well as privatization, outsourcing and casualization of jobs, now
becoming crucial issue in the national railway struggle against JR (Japan Railway)
Companies. The struggle against neo-liberal capitalist offensive is a common task of all
workers with two fundamental issues: national railway struggle against privatization,
outsourcing and casualization of jobs; struggle against nuclear plant and “irradiated
labor”.
Through developing the struggle of labor unions against “irradiated labor”, a large part
of experts and engineers in nuclear industry and research etc. will join us. Then we’ll be
able to build up a wide front to carry out complete abolition of nuclear plants all over
Japan and the whole world.
We must overcome a narrow idea of realizing our purpose within the framework of
capitalism. Also international solidarity and unity is indispensable. It could be possible,
for example, through establishing a “Committee to Abolish Nuclear Plant” and
organizing a wide range of anti-nuke movement with a common aim of defense of
health and life from radioactive contamination together with labor unions, expert
groups, and various interested organizations.
NAZEN (No-Nuke Zenkoku [National] Network) declares in its founding document: “Let’s
gather all wisdom for our common cause”.
The struggle to abolish nuclear plant embodies the self-liberation struggle of proletariat
for the final emancipation of human beings.
Our slogan is: “Abolish all nuclear plant immediately!”
Let’s fight together!
2. The fundamental characteristics of nuclear is an indiscriminating mass
killing
Workers are irreconcilable with capitalists over the crucial nuclear issue
The time has come for working class people to fight against ruling capitalist
class
Regardless whether it is a nuclear weapon or a nuclear plant, the fundamental
characteristics of nuclear power is one and the same—an indiscriminating and ultimate
means of mass killing of people.
Nuclear energy was first employed as nuclear weapon during the World War II. The
atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed an incredible number of
people. The immediate death toll was 120,000 in Hiroshima and 70,000 in Nagasaki.
Then in the five years, 200,000 people in Hiroshima and 140,000 people in Nagasaki
died. Approximately 48% of the population in Hiroshima and 58% in Nagasaki were
killed. Even now, after over half a century, many hibakusha (atomic-bomb survivors)
are dying away.
In spite of these bitter experiences, Japanese ruling
energy with hidden intention of nuclear armament
plants. Nuclear power plants, however, exist only at
constantly exposed to radiation. Since the accident of
Plant on March 11 last year, the children and people
exposed to radioactive contamination every day.
class decided to develop nuclear
through construction of nuclear
the sacrifice of workers who are
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power
in Fukushima have been forcibly
In spite of such a crucial and lasting situation, Noda administration enforced the restart
of nuclear plants in Oi, shamelessly defying the anger of a vast majority of Japanese
people with Fukushima people at the forefront. System-friendly scholars bribed by
government and capital are playing the role of concealing the risk of radiation exposure,
saying, “There is no immediate hazardous effect on health under the present condition
of Fukushima”. Needless to say, saving the life of children should be the matter of the
highest priority. But the ruling capitalist class cares nothing about the Fukushima
children or “irradiated workers” engaged in dangerous labor in nuclear plants. Their
matter of overriding concern is their profit and nothing else. This is what neoliberalism
is all about.
The accident of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant clearly and mercilessly revealed
the fact that the existence of human beings and nuclear power are incompatible with
each other. Through the issue of nuclear power, workers and capitalists have become
decisively irreconcilable. The survivors of atomic bombs of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and
Bikini, who were forced to suffer from the horrible consequences, have been
continuously opposing against the use of nuclear energy. The workers who are
contaminated through the work in nuclear plants are now standing up to raise their
voices and to speak out their hardships and the danger of radiation. The struggle to
oppose against nuclear power plants led by Fukushima mothers is now becoming a huge
ground swell which has engulfed the people of Japan and the whole world.
The time has come for working class people to decisively fight against ruling capitalist
class!
We should share the anger against nuclear weapons and plants and fight
together in
unity and solidarity with all the people in the world
After the World War II, nuclear capability has become the fundamental tool of diplomatic
and military confrontation among imperialist countries. In fact, the countries that have
currently seats in the U.N. Security Council are all nuclear-armed states. What is more,
they have repeatedly been poised on the brinks of using nuclear weapons—at the time
of Korean War, Cuban Crisis, Vietnam War, Middle East War, so-called “anti-terrorism
war” after the September 11 in 2001 and so forth.
The capitalist/imperialist countries have sustained their domination over the world by
using the threat of nuclear weapons. In the post-World War II period a series of
revolutionary upheavals occurred in many regions of the world. But capitalists each time
brutally crushed the struggle of working class by the threat of nuclear weapons,
ultimate means of mass slaughter. To counter imperialist threat by nuclear weapons,
Stalinists headed by the Soviet Union desperately rushed to develop and possess
nuclear capabilities to gain superiority over the rival superpower. Stalinists who distrust
and even suppress revolutionary power of world proletariat needed nuclear weapon as
counter-measures to imperialist menace and also as a means to threaten possible
revolutionary uprising of workers at home against them.
Working class should set the highest priority on the struggle of working class to abolish
nuclear powers by international solidarity and fight against capitalists’ nuclear
capabilities. Working class people should be united under the Marxist slogan, “Workers
of the world unite!” In spite of that, Stalinists put out a strategy of “socialism in one
country” opposing the international solidarity of working class and fiercely plunged into
a nuclear arms race with imperialists. The present stance of North Korean’s Stalinism is
following the same way as the former USSR Stalinists. The revolutionary strategy of
anti-Stalinism and anti-imperialism is the only way to fundamentally change the world.
Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US president, wherever he goes around
the world, is always followed by several dozen of retinue, including a uniformed military
officer among others. He carries a big black briefcase called “nuclear football”, the
contents of which are instruments to give final order of the US president of a nuclear
attack while away from fixed command centers. It shows the US is desperately pushing
forward its military confrontation policy especially in Asia against China to overcome its
apparent decline. The menace of a nuclear war is still imminent.
The Japanese anti-war and anti-nuke movement, which started with the slogan, “No
more Hiroshima, no more Nagasaki”, is now joining upheaval of the struggle against
nuclear plant with angry voices of “No more Fukushima”.
With eyes firmly fixed on the future, in the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory, lets’
fight together to create a nuclear free world!
3 Japan-U.S. Security Treaty and nuclear plant: major weak
point of Japanese imperialism
Noda restarts nuclear plant “for the reason of (national) security”
Prime Minister Noda publicly proclaimed in his administrative policy speech on
December 1 that the government would restart nuclear plants “from the viewpoint of
economic impact, environmental protection and national security”. The problem here
was evidently not about conventional arms but about nuclear arms as the issue was
nuclear plant. It was the first time that incumbent prime minister went so far as to
declare openly that nuclear plant has implication for security. He dared to refer to the
restarting of nuclear plants on the ground of “the necessity of nuclear armament” even
after the terrible disaster caused by Fukushima nuclear accident.
Pushing ahead the nuclear plant policy, Japanese imperialism has been seeking to equip
itself with nuclear arms. Yasuhiro Nakasone who introduced the first nuclear budget in
1954 was reported “to have an interest in nuclear arms especially in tiny nuclear
bombs”. Nobusuke Kish who assumed the post of prime minister from 1957, known as
outspoken advocate of nuclear armament together with Nakasone, insisted in his
memoir as follows:
“Nuclear technology itself can be used both for peaceful and military purposes. The
choice between the two depends on the policy and decision of the state. Though
Japan has made it the national consensus of the state and people not to utilize
nuclear power as weapon and to limit its use exclusively for peaceful purpose, the
possibility of its military use will certainly increase with the inevitable development
of nuclear technology in the future.”
In 1969, an internal document of Foreign Ministry confirmed, “Japan will be always
holding its potential to maintain economic and technological prowess to produce nuclear
weapons.”
Defeated in the Second World War, Japanese imperialism could not openly disclose its
intention of arming itself with nuclear weapons like the victorious imperialist powers. In
the post-war world, however, the nuclear arms have constituted basic means of military
and foreign policy for imperialist powers to be competitive. Japanese Imperialism
followed two paths to survive as imperialism: one is maintaining and strengthening of
the security partnership of Japan and United States; and the other is promotion of
nuclear power plant construction, whose underlying intention was to obtain nuclear
arms capability. Promotion of nuclear power plant meant and still means for Japanese
imperialism nothing other than “disguised nuclear armament”.
Strengthening of Japan-U.S. Security Alliance in a closed link with nuclear fuel
cycle
project
Since the 80s Japanese imperialism has been developing nuclear fuel cycle project that
could provide Japanese military forces with plutonium and manufacturing of rocket,
which is as competent as ICBM. Importation of plutonium extracted from spent nuclear
fuel used to be subject to the approval of U.S. government. But new Japan-U.S.
agreement that came into effect in 1988 dropped the need for this approval.
Since the 70s, Japan-US economic confrontation has gradually been escalated into overt
conflict and finally expanded into the divergence over Japan-U.S. Security Alliance and
the issue of nuclear power plant construction. U.S. Imperialism has never allowed
Japan’s contestation against U.S. policy and sought to mobilize Japan at the
convenience of U.S. On the other hand, Japanese imperialism, while insisting upon
Japan’s independent position from U.S., has deepened its crisis under the strong
pressure from U.S. It had long been absolutely imperative for Japanese Imperialism to
maintain Japan-U.S. Security Treaty and to promote vigorous construction program of
nuclear plants. But now these two vital pillars for Japanese imperialism have turned into
heel of Achilles.
These two weakest points mean strategic target for us to attack Japanese imperialism
and achieve proletarian revolution.
Although Japan-U.S. Security Treaty is already wrecked as is indicated by the deadlock
of Japanese defense policy hit by the fierce struggle of Okinawa people against the
planned construction of Henoko new base, U.S.-Japanese imperialism are still trying to
expand U.S. bases at the intolerable sacrifice of people of Okinawa. Meanwhile,
Japanese Imperialism is desperately rushing to restart nuclear plants and even export
them abroad, while people of Fukushima are suffering catastrophic aftermath of the
disaster and exposed to heavy radioactivity in their daily life.
Let’s develop struggle against U.S. bases with Okinawan people at the forefront and the
struggle for decommissioning of reactor with the people of Fukushima at the head. Let’s
develop these struggles as strategic struggles for the victory of Japanese Proletarian
Revolution as a stronghold of World Proletarian Revolution.
4 TEPCO capital, responsible for Fukushima nuclear plant
disaster, is promoter of irregular employment
National Railway Privatization triggered a series of nuclear plant accidents
It is a significant fact that major accidents of nuclear power plants occurred in
succession since the division and privatization of National Railways (in 1987). In the
preceding period, the frequency of nuclear power plants’ accidents over level 2 on the
International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) was usually about once in a
decade. It has rapidly increased, however, since the late eighties.
Five major accidents of nuclear power plants took place within only two years and a
half, namely, the accident of Fukushima No.2 nuclear power plant Reactor 3 in January
1989 and others, including the accident of Hamaoka nuclear power plant Reactor 3 in
May 1991. Thereafter, many grave accidents followed and finally in 2002 all nuclear
reactors of TEPCO stopped because of a disclosure of the fact that the then president of
TEPCO had concealed a serious nuclear plant accident and was obliged to resign. In
spite of this fatal failure, TEPCO, helped by the government, took no serious measure to
improve the situation. These developments actually ended in causing the catastrophe of
March 11.
High frequency of nuclear power plants’ accident since the late eighties was not
accidental but due to intensifying of neo-liberalism offensive. Though we are aware the
nuclear power and also nuclear facilities are originally beyond human control, neo-
liberalism ignores this undeniable fact and desperately seeks profit in negligence of
industrial safety at the sacrifice of workers in work place and of the life of all
inhabitants. Neo-liberal policy has undermined and destroyed the labor right and unity
of workers in the name of capitals’ “freedom”, and demanded the abolition of regulation
on capital’s movement in quest of profit under the protection of the state power.
Workers’ right and social security system, which were obtained by class struggle in the
post-war upheaval, became target of neo-liberal offensives due to the drastic policy
change of Japanese imperialism in the last half of 1980’. Its aim was to exploit workers
without restraint and deprive them of their invested right by neo-liberal attack. The
reason why the bourgeoisie changed its policy of class rule is because the development
of economy, politics and society after World War II entirely reached a historical
stalemate in the world and in Japan in the 1980’s.
Replacing the previous restriction by state against capital, namely the policy of state-
monopoly capitalism, they have sought to increase capital profit to an extreme without
restriction as a matter of highest priority. Subsequently, the safety of nuclear power
plant and facilities was completely ignored, abandoned and devastated. Thus
concealment of frequent nuclear plant accident has become an ordinary procedure and
falsification of failure records has become the order of the day. Already in nineties major
nuclear plant accident, like Fukushima Daiichi disaster, could have happened at every
moment. We had been rescued by no occurrence of big earthquake. Neo-liberalism is
the true culprit.
Social foundations shaken by deregulation and casualization
“Hiraiwa Report” was issued in 1993. Late HIRAIWA Gaishi was president of TEPCO from
1976, chairman of TEPCO from 1984, and chairman of the Federation of Economic
Organization from 1990. He was the most powerful boss of electric power capitals in
Japan. It was the epoch-making report.
“Hiraiwa Report” listed the laws that should be deregulated or abolished. Those listed
laws include especially Nuclear Reactor Regulation Law and Radiation Hazard Prevention
Act, etc. concerning nuclear power plant, and also Labor Standards Act and Worker
Dispatching Act concerning workers’ right.
It has three aims: 1) The whole society and the system should be reconstructed by
means of deregulation and abolition of restrictions on “free movement” of capital; 2)
Irregular employment, subcontracting of workers and precarious working conditions,
practiced typically in nuclear industry, should be expanded to other fields of industry
and to generalize it as common rule; 3) Legalization of abuse of nuclear plant workers
by electric companies to disguise the extremely brutal and extraordinary exploitation of
nuclear power plants’ workers, exploitation in flagrant violation of labor law..
These deregulation measures has been followed by Koizumi’s (prime minister
2001~2006) “Structural Reform”, and the privatization, outsourcing offensive of JR
(Japan Railway Company) and NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Cooperation). [Just
two years later in 1995, a notorious Report of Nikkeiren (Japan Federation of Employers’
Association), “Japanese Management in the New Age” was published and defiantly
declared to thrust 90 % out of Japanese total labor power into irregular employment in
coming years.]
Thus corporate rush began to put 90 percent of the entire workforce into irregular
employment.
The result is complete destruction of social foundations, such as employment,
education, social welfare, and health care system, especially enormous increase of
irregular employment in the whole Japanese society. Worker Dispatching Act was
revised many times. This offensive has brought about a reality, in which 38.7 percent of
the entire working population has been thrust into irregular employment. 91.3 percent
of male workers between 20 years old and 24 years old earn only a wage at or below
200 thousand yen ($2 thousand) a month. It is true that neo-liberalism does not let
worker, especially young worker live a human life.
As is proved above, TEPCO is not only responsible for the unprecedented nuclear
accident in Fukushima but also for the reality as the result of deregulation, which
electric companies spearheaded.
We have recently experienced three waves of neo-liberal offensives: the first was the
Division and Privatization of National Railways in 1980’s; the second was the attack of
deregulation in 1990’s; the third was Koizumi’s “Structural Reform” and the rush of
privatization and outsourcing since 2001. Now the time has come we fight back neo-
liberal offensive once and for all through carrying out national railway struggle, anti-
nuke struggle and the struggle to demand abolition of irregular employment. Our
common enemy is neo-liberalism that is the last resort of imperialism in death agony.
5 Set up class struggle labor union
National Railway Struggle is its major pillar
Nuclear plants were constructed only after crushing militant labor union of
electric
industry
Significant position of national railway struggle
Revitalization of labor union and labor movement is an essential task for the struggle to
crush restart of nuclear plants and to abolish all nuclear facilities. Labor union and labor
movement should play a central role in confronting neo-liberal offensives and rallying all
angry students, farmers, and inhabitants. The post-war history of the promotion and
development of nuclear policy and nuclear plants teaches us that labor union occupies
the key position in the non-nuke struggle.
The major player of the post-war revolutionary upheaval of labor movement in Japan
was, together with national railway workers unions, Den-san (All Japan Electric Industry
Workers Union), which comprised all workers employed in electric industry, including
power generation, distribution, engineering, management etc. In a single national
industrial union, labor unity was achieved beyond the barrier of different branches and
the division between regular and irregular employees, with its 180,000 union members,
among them there was a large number of revolutionary union activists. Den-san
repeated electric power stoppage to give a terrible blow to industrial capitalists and
encouraged all Japanese working class by its militant and exemplar struggle at the point
of production all through the post-war revolutionary period culminated in the failed
strike on February 1, 1947.
Japanese ruling class together with the US occupation forces felt it urgent to break up
Den-san union in order to suppress raging labor movement and launched “red purge”
(red baiting) with the major target on Den-san. In line with this extremely brutal union
busting, a scheme of division and privatization of electric industry was carried out. The
governmental plan of “reorganizing electric industry” was materialized finally in 1952
and 9 separate electric companies were set up as a result of breaking up of a single
national electric utility and of subsequent disruption of Den-san, an industrial labor
union, which fought against this assault by 86 day’ strike but was finally defeated.
It is to be noted that the process of union busting coupled with division and privatization
of electric industry went parallel with the governmental and industrial promotion of
nuclear policy in the name of “Atom for Peace” (peaceful use of nuclear energy). In
1956, Japan Atomic Industrial Forum was established with the head of TEPCO (Tokyo
Electric Company) participating.
Not to forget, these moves were vehement reaction of the Japanese ruling class to the
stormy rise of anti-nuke movement triggered by the Bikini Atoll US nuclear test in 1954
which caused a terrible disaster all over the Pacific Ocean and severely hit a Japanese
fisher boat. One of the crew on board died several months later apparently because of
contamination.
Meanwhile, we must mention that Japan Communist Party contributed to the promotion
of nuclear power policy as imperialist strategy in two ways: it betrayed the revolutionary
uprising of Japanese working class highlighted in the planned and failed general strike in
1947 in support of US occupation forces (JCP named it “liberation force”) and ended in
succumbing to the subsequent red baiting; it welcomed the governmental nuclear policy
in the name of “Atom for Peace”. In 1961, when USSR waged an atomic bomb test, JCP
openly and promptly supported it, saying, “It is a clean nuclear weapon”.
Our present struggle is to overturn all these previous developments at the sacrifice of
working class people supported by system-friendly political parties and labor unions.
The Division and Privatization of National Railways in 1987 was designed and carried out
after the preceding example of the division and privatization of electric industry and
union busting in 1950’s. From the beginning of 1980’s, a systematic campaign was
organized to attack and destroy Kokuro (National Railway Workers Union), a major force
of railway workers struggle, through demagogic propaganda that a huge amount of debt
of National Railways was due to lazy and foul unionist workers of Kokuro who were
fiercely engaged in union activity instead of working for the railway service, etc. Among
several labor unions of national railway workers, it was not the major union, Kokuro, but
Doro-Chiba (National Railway Motive Power Union of Chiba with about 1500 members at
that time), an independent union that fought squarely against the offensive of division
and privatization by repeated strikes. After all, the Division and Privatization of National
Railways was forcibly carried out and Kokuro suffered a terrible blow because of its
surrender to the attack and the number of its union member sharply decreased from
250,000 to 44,000 in a few years. In 1989, Sohyo (General Council of Trade Unions of
Japan), a national labor center founded in 1950 and represented Japanese labor
movement for decades (Kokuro played an essential role in it) disbanded itself and was
replaced by Rengo (Japanese Trade Union Confederation), under the leadership of labor-
capital cooperative orientation, which fully supports neo-liberal agenda of Japanese
business circle and the state power.
It is a remarkable fact that Denryoku-Soren (Confederation of Electric Power Related
Industry Workers Union of Japan) and also Denki-Rengo (Japanese Electrical, Electronic
and Information Union) have been spearheading the state policy of promoting nuclear
plant construction as business unions in total negligence of protecting nuclear plant
workers from radioactive contamination. These corrupt union bureaucrats are
responsible for the nuclear disaster in Fukushima because of their shameless and dirty
cooperation with electric companies.
The major power that has been confronting the governmental offensive is national
railway struggle represented by 1047 unjustly and unlawfully dismissed workers with
Doro-Chiba at the forefront, a consistent struggle against the Division and Privatization
of National Railways since 1987.
In 2010, an outrageous attempt was made to put an end to this uncompromising
struggle through “April 9th political settlement” jointly produced by political parties and
corrupt labor leadership, including Kokuro. The settlement plan suggested that the
demand of reinstatement of 1047 railway workers be dropped in exchange for an
insignificant amount of compensation money. To fight back this shameless betrayal and
attack, militant railway workers launched a Nationwide Campaign of National Railway
Workers’ Struggle on June 2010 with slogans, “Don’t put out the fire of national railway
struggle” “Crush neo-liberal offensives by the power of national railway struggle”, and
called upon all the Japanese workers to join the movement in defense of 1047 dismissed
workers and also to revitalize labor movement to defend the life and interest of
Japanese working class under severe capitalist offensive of outsourcing, casualization,
wage-cut, union busting, etc.
March 11 urged labor movement to act on an unprecedented catastrophe and rise up for
Fukushima people under terrible disaster. National railway workers headed by Doro-
Chiba and Doro-Mito together with Nationwide Campaign of National Railway Workers’
Struggle issued an appeal to fight with Fukushima people to defend their lives and at
the same time against TEPCO and Japanese government that caused the Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear plant accident and refuse to take responsibility for all the subsequent
casualties upon a huge number of affected families. On the big rally of Nationwide
Campaign of National Railway Workers’ Struggle held on June 2011, three months after
the disaster, people from Fukushima appeared on the stage with a flag, saying, “We are
angry”.
Thus successful unity and solidarity of national railway struggle and anti-nuke struggle
has been achieved. This will be the decisive power to crush nuclear policy of Japanese
imperialism and brutal attack on working class people. In other words, an effective and
militant united front is being established against neo-liberal offensive of imperialism in
death agony.
Stop restart of nuclear reactors and maneuver of Osaka City Mayor Hashimoto
Hashimoto, Osaka City Mayor, is making dirty maneuver to promote nuclear policy. In
the discussions over the issue of restarting Oi nuclear plant (Oi is located in the
neighboring prefecture of Osaka), Hashimoto, convinced constitutional revisionist
(demanding to delete the “peace clause”) and ardent advocate of nuclear armament,
pretended to be harshly opposed to the restart of Oi nuclear plant “in the name of
Osaka citizens” in press conference and other occasions. It was disclosed, however, the
letter of Osaka City to the government on the nuclear issue included no word of “no to
restart of nuclear plant”. Finally Hashimoto ended in playing an active role in persuading
governors and mayors of other adjoining provinces and cities to accept the restart of Oi
nuclear plant on June.
Furious workers of Osaka with municipal workers at the head have risen to a resolute
confrontation against Hashimoto who is spearheading neo-liberal offensive, represented
by his plan of mass dismissal of public service workers and brutal union busting.
Thus anti-nuke struggle is inevitably combined with the struggle in work place. Also on
campus, a fresh struggle has been launched in Kyoto University to expel bribed
professors who work as promoters of nuclear policy and agent of nuclear industry, or
electric companies.
The national railway struggle and the struggle against nuclear plant have been joining
together to confront the common enemy, neo-liberal offensive as a last resort of
imperialism in a global economic crisis that indicates that the historical life of
imperialism, or the last stage of capitalism, has already been exhausted and the time of
proletarian world liberation has come.
[Special Number of International Labor Movement: Chapter IV of “Dismantle All
Nuclear Reactors through Revitalizing Labor Union”]
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