16th JTUC-RENGO Biennial Convention - President’s Address
October 10, 2019Japanese Trade Union Confederation
President Rikio Kozu
Acknowledgments
Thank you for gathering here for the 16th JTUC-RENGO Biennial Convention.
Good morning.
I would like to thank, from the bottom of my heart, the many guests who havetaken time out of their busy schedules to join us today, including government
representatives, leaders of political parties, and the mayor of Shinjuku, where thisevent is being held.
I would particularly like to acknowledge the participation of 55 international
guests from 40 organizations, including Deputy President of ITUC, Karl-Petter
Thorwaldsson, Shoya Yoshida, who was just re-elected as General Secretary of
ITUC-AP at the regional convention that finished yesterday, and General
Secretary of OECD-TUAC, Pierre Habbard.
They have added a special touch to this convention, which marks JTUC-RENGO’s
30th anniversary. I am deeply grateful for their contributions. Thank you verymuch.
Introduction
On behalf of the hosts, I am honored to make the following address. Personally, I
feel that our labor movement has great historical significance. I would like toreinforce the position of RENGO as the national center of trade unions in Japanand make it a common platform for future initiatives and activities. Thus, I will
leave reflection on the previous period, and key points for the 16th period such as
the new RENGO Vision and Action Policies(draft) for explanations of proposals toGeneral Secretary Aihara and others.
JTUC-RENGO’s 30th anniversary - placing this milestone in a global context
In the history of the world, trade unions only arose in the 18th century. The originof trade unions lies in the solidarity and cooperation of factory workers in the latter
half of the 18th century, united in an effort to escape the poor working conditions
that arose as a result of the industrial revolution. You may think this was a longtime ago, but in the context of human history as a whole, 250 years ago is relatively
recent.
During this period in the 18th century, people drastically changed the course ofhistory. We must confront our place in human history, giving particularconsideration to the impact and meaning of the two world wars that occurred
during this period and what problems they continue to cause in the present.
This year, as you know, it is the 100th anniversary of the ILO. It was founded soonafter the World War I, which is the event that had the largest impact on the fate ofhumanity. The establishment of the ILO is deeply connected to reflection on theWorld War I.

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The spirit of the ILO is to spread the tripartite relationship structure ofgovernment, employers, and workers, by getting the governments of individual
countries to engage with the fundamentals of multilateralism, and with building
relationships between workers and employers at its core.
The preamble to the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work, which was
adopted at the ILO Conference in June of this year, states that “the continuous andconcerted action of governments and representatives of employers and workers isessential to the achievement of social justice, democracy, and the promotion ofuniversal and lasting peace.”
I believe that war and terrorism will continue to exist for as long as poverty exists.
Furthermore, in real terms, we are best positioned to put a stop to poverty. Only
trade unions and labour-management relations can create and distribute wealth,and thereby create a secure society.
I would once more like to emphasize that the creation of trade unions really wasan extremely recent occurrence in the history of the world. Our work has only justbegun when considered from the perspective of the long history of the human race.
Trade unions gives rise to the collective labor-management relations firstly, which
realize the demands of workers, secure workers’ rights, and protect workers’
lifestyles. Only when workers are enthusiastic about their work, companies cancreate high-quality products and exceptional service. In this manner they canachieve added value, which influences distribution, and create wealth.
I would like to say it aloud. Trade unions are the one to save the world, and we
JTUC-RENGO must lead the way.
Diversity - the importance of multilateralism
After the World War I, which had claimed the lives of more than 20 million people,
humanity, which should have pledged never to go to war again, went on to fightthe World War II, which took a terrible toll with 50 million casualties.
We must continue to pose the question of how humanity can overcome these kindsof problems.
It is beyond doubt that economic upheaval was one of the underlying causes of theworld wars; however, it would be fair to say that the most fundamental factor
behind such an outrageous number of casualties was elimination of diversity.
As I said, the ILO’s value is built on the foundation of tripartite relationships andmultilateralism. We must revitalize multilateralism, which is one of the aim ofvarious international institutions, including the UN. As members of theInternational Trade Union Confederation, we are the people who understand thatbest and are in the best position to provide support. The labour movement is apioneer of social movement. It is clear that the establishment of the League of
Nations, the UN, and the ILO, was based on international solidarity between tradeunions. Trade unions have been able to go beyond national borders to respect
diversity, show solidarity, and influence international movement.
We must unify around ITUC in order to prevent unfettered domination by shortsighted political leaders. If political leaders are going to be blinded by the hatredthat surrounds them right now and succumb to it, the risk of an extremely
volatile situation involving the use of nuclear weapons is likely to materialize.

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Recently, the risk of the collapse of human civilization has been gradually
increasing as there have been more and more setbacks to disarmament.
The future is at risk of going off the rails so we must change course in order torealize the future that we hope for. It is the social responsibility of trade unions
and the personal obligation of each of us to constantly strive to achieve this for the
next generation.
Collecting 10 million signatures in support of the abolition of nuclear weapons,
which we all are currently working towards, is a part of this. JTUC-RENGO, theJapan National Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, and KAKKIN
must work together to make our wishes known to the Japanese government andthe UN at the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the NonProliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which is held every five years, as
representatives of the only country in the world to have been the victim of atomic
bombs. Peace is the foundation upon which our lifestyle and work is based. Tradeunions must strongly urge to the world.
Surroundings and local areas
The new RENGO Vision states that its vision for society is “a society that accepts
diversity irrespective of attributes such as age, gender, nationality, or disability, inwhich individuals mutually recognize and support each other, and in which no one
is left behind.” Furthermore, the Action Policies (draft) for the next period lists
realization of workplaces and a society in which true diversity is deeply rooted as
one of its three priority areas.
If you look at the current state of affairs, the foreign workforce in Japan reachedapproximately 1.46 million workers in 2018 and the record-high turnover ratecontinues. A new status of residence was added in April, and I’m sure that more
will continue to be added going forward. If we are going to welcome these workers
to Japan, we must ensure that they are accepted in their local communities.
Also, we must respect equal human rights, and realize workplaces in which people
feel secure regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity, including
coexisting with people with disabilities, which we were already working towards.
This is what I think. Life is about chance. Everyone has their share of good andback luck. Each person shines in their own unique way. Things like whether aperson makes money and whether they have extensive knowledge only account fora small part of their value in the world. Each person born into the world has theirown unique intrinsic value.
People cannot achieve happiness in a society that doesn’t respect diversity, one thatforces people to live their lives according to the circumstances into which they areborn with no prospect to improve their lives through effort, and in which an unfair
set of values holds sway. That kind of society causes harm, the accumulation ofwhich will result in the downfall of nations. If this form of society becomes too
common, it can only speed up the end of the world.
Trade unions can play a role to increase cooperation as an important community
stakeholder that aims to create an inclusive society in which people acknowledge
and support each other.

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The doctrine of personal responsibility that has taken root in Japan is extremely
dangerous. I think we should create a society based on the doctrine of ‘all for all,’where everyone supports each other.
Trade unions and Japan’s post war values
In Japan, labor movements that spoke up at the end of the Meiji period were
subject to repeated suppression thereafter and even suspension during the war.
Immediately after the war, they were revived and took root by order of GHQ andcontinue to this day.
However, Japan has benefited from great economic prosperity, which has resulted
in an extremely weak safety net from the perspective of workers and ordinary
citizen. The rights that should have been guaranteed to people remained buried. I
have a deep sense of foreboding that this will further impede diversity and vigor
in Japan, which could lead to the downfall of the nation.
I wonder if pacifism, basic human rights, and the sovereignty of the people, which
are values that were supposed to have been put in place after the war and which
are the fundamental to the Japanese constitution, have really taken root in theJapanese psyche and whether they are wavering. As we enter the new Reiwa era,
I feel that we need to question our values once again. Are the three rights ofworkers listed in Article 28 of the Constitution, namely the rights to organize,collective bargaining, and act collectively, widely exercised in name andsubstance in order to support workers? We must do better at highlighting theissues around us.
Firstly, we must engage with the Work Style Reform Bill that has been sequentially
implemented from April. We must ensure that it would take root in society in true
sense. We at JTUC-RENGO must firmly advocate that it is essential to establish
and expand collective labour-management relations for all workers. In order tomake the “Work-style Reforms” meaningful to workers and not to end up only inform, we must have through discussion between labour and management tooperate and revise its system appropriately for each companies.
Without trade unions, it would be difficult to resolve instability and disparity ofpart-time, fixed-term, or temporary workers, in contrast with full-time regular
workers, and to ensure equal pay for equal work.
Furthermore, we must spread “raise wage” movement and its effect throughout
society as wages are a core labor condition.
In addition, as the global economy progresses, rapid digitalization,
impoverishment of the middle class, rise of the gig economy, and spread ofinconsistent employment have presented us with a number of challenges.
The pressing issue is that an increasing number of workers are in a de-facto
dependent employment relationship, but are not eligible for the rights granted to
employees according to legal definitions and application. This is a social absurdity
to which trade unions cannot turn a blind eye. We must never allow a businessmodel that allows an employer to circumvent labor laws by abusing or disguising
the form of contracts, such as in the Bellco case, which is currently being litigated.

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Work, itself, has been diversifying, so we can no longer protect all workers andensure the security of the whole of society by only paying attention to people inregular employment. We must establish and expand collective labor-management
relations, fight hard in local communities, spread to all corners of society, andcreate a society where even those that work without being employed can join tradeunions.
Workers are central to our goal of “protecting, connecting, and creating.”
JTUC-RENGO’s path: Unwavering progressThrough the so-called “lost two decades,” it is said that Japan became a lukewarm
society. The belief that the future will neither improve nor worsen became
commonplace, hopes for the future faded, and feelings such as “there is uncertainty
but satisfied,” “individual good trumps public good,” “present trumps future,” and“reality trumps expectations” became commonplace in society.
We got a glimpse of this from the internet survey conducted by JTUC-RENGO in
April. Although more than 70% of respondents said “I am uncertain about the
future,” the majority of respondents said they are “satisfied” with their current
lifestyle.
Apart from the few exceptions, such as the tripartite agreement to enact reforms
linking social security and tax pushed through by the Noda government, Japanhas put off dealing with major issues for many years. When you consider this incombination with the “lukewarm society,” it is actually quite a serious problem. It
is essential to implement reforms that allow the government to embrace a brighter
outlook for the future without lapsing into makeshift short-term policies andwithout averting their gaze from the allocation of burden.
We cannot avoid politics as a means to plan out future. While politics come in many
forms, democracy is the most beneficial to us.
However, are we really utilizing this system as it was designed? Is Japanese society
reaping the benefits of true democracy? Has the principle of sovereignty of thepeople as set out in the Constitution really taken root?
Looking back on contemporary history, by being defeated in the war, Japan has
escaped the totalitarian social structure that was in place before and during thewar. Furthermore, we have reduced the influence of communist ideologies, whichhave a propensity for systems of one-party control. From this perspective, it seems
that the two-party system has succeeded due to the promotion of political reforms
in the 1990s and the formation of the 2009 DPJ government.
However, this progress was set back due to the collapse of the DPJ government in
2012, and since then, there has been repeated reformation and fracturing of the
DPJ. The hopes of the many voters that hoped for a roll back of single-party politics
have been dashed.
Clearly there is an extremely great responsibility placed on the joint factions
created at the extraordinary session of the Diet convened under thesecircumstances. They are expected to repeatedly produce the kind of inspirational
results that resonate with the hopes of voters. Also, this is only the beginning of
the factions so I hope that the parties can work together courteously and with5

respect for each other’s positions. JTUC-RENGO also hopes for close policy
cooperation with the Diet.
We must again make our claims. Politics is merely a means to an end, and it is up
to the voters to really utilize this system. Voters must get back the weight ofsovereignty.
We trade unions should systematically exercise its influence as groups of voters inorder to realize policies based on work and life. For a long time after the war ourlabor movements has been struggled to dull the influence of ideologically skewed
political forces; however, we must now separate ourselves from the pointless
confusion of the world of politics.
As we do that, our original outlook, or in other words, how we frame events, isextremely important. Many of political news are based on the views of the players
in the political world, in other words, the outlook is of Nagata-cho “the centre ofpolitics”, where the Diets located. We must confront the negative impact this would
have. We must make a case for the original meaning and significance of sovereignty
both inside and outside our organizations. The original outlook of voters being inthe spotlight must become widely recognised by society.
In order to achieve this, we at JTUC-RENGO must work with caring politicians torealise policies for workers and ordinary citizens to the very end. Caring politicians
are politicians that is considerate of and respect workers’ values and expectations
and strive to confront and solve issues in local communities. They thoroughly
investigate and do not deviate from policies for workers and ordinary citizens.
We must return to this foundation and embody our goals again while fully
demonstrating the power of the network of affiliated organisations and local
RENGOs and the policy capabilities of RENGO Headquarters and using the
RENGO forum as a springboard. Only by doing this on an ongoing basis can we
ensure that the currently unbalanced two-party system operates effectively.
The opening video showed the journey of JTUC-RENGO leading up to our 30th
anniversary, including the night before JTUC-RENGO was established. We
overcame many difficulties from the time of the separated National Centers to
the unification of the Policy Promotion Labor Union Congress, the All Japan
Council of Private Labor, and the Japanese Private-Sector Trade Union
Confederation with the Japan Council of Public Service Unions, and RENGO
established on November 21, 1989.
Since then, we have taken the middle of the road. Although that road is wide, wehave not taken any sharp deviations from the middle and we have not wavered in
our progress. This is extremely significant in Japan, which is undergoing great
turmoil.
I’m sure that the environment surrounding us will continue to undergo greatchanges. Given that, we must courageously accept challenges, while keeping in
mind our slogan of “We will change the future–Towards a Secure Society.”Thank you for your attention. I look forward to working with you all.

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