Overturesfrom RENGO
Priority Policies '08 – '09

JTUC-RENGO
Japanese Trade Union Confederation

Overview

Redressing
Social Disparities

Rebuilding the Social Safety Net against
Expanding Disparities Under an Economic
Recovery without Any Actual Feeling
Under Japan’s economic expansion from 2002,
business performances of major companies havecontinued to grow, supporting major increases inshareholder dividends and executive compensation.
At the same time, however, the wages of workers in
the private sector have charted nine consecutive yearsof decline since 1997, with the labor share alsosteadily losing ground to below 60 percent.
In addition to this, the numbers of part-timers,“dispatched workers” (workers dispatched from
temporary labor agencies) and other non-regular
workers have risen; while as a result of unstable

employment and low wages the number of “workingpoor” (living below welfare standards and withoutsocial insurance) is also in an increase trend. Workers
with annual incomes of less than two million yen
now number more than 10 million, with families on
welfare rising to 1.07 million households (1.5 million
persons). The bipolarization of the once heavily
populated middle class has emerged, with not only
the widening of social disparities but also problems
related to poverty arising as serious issues.
Against the backdrop of the economic expansion
during this time, there has been a decline in regional
1

assistance in finding work, raising of minimum
small- and medium-sized enterprises, local industry
wages, expansion of the coverage of social insurance
and the agricultural, forestry and fisheries industries.
and the strengthening of that insurance’s function
There have also been declines and aging ofthrough the enrichment of medical care and related
populations and other trends that suggest theservices.
impoverishment of local economies. As a result,
Along with this, in order to correct the distortions
regional gaps in economic and financial strength are
in income distribution, another important theme canalso expanding. The increased stratification in thesebe identified as bolstering the income redistribution
employment patterns, as well as between different
function within the domains of the tax system andregions, industries and corporate scale, has emergedsocial security reform.
as a serious social problem.
In addition, under the government policy
Trends in Added Value Distribution
to restrain social security during these~ Favoring Executives and Shareholders in Large Comanies ~(FY2001: 100)
years, serious problems threatening the
400
383.2
lives of people have emerged in the form350
of shortages of medical doctors such as
Per-company distribution
obstetricians,
pediatricians,
first-aid
300
physicians and regional medical care, as
Per-executive salary/bonus
250
well as in denials to receive and treat
197.3
200
first-aid patients.
Per-capita added value
In order to improve the treatment
150
112.1
afforded to non-regular workers, redress
100
social disparities and solve the problems of
Per-capita labor costs
93.1
50
poverty, there is a pressing need for efforts
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
to reconstruct a multi-layered social safety(fiscal year)
net through collaboration with vigorous(Notes) * Large companies capitalized at ¥1 billion and abov eemployment and social welfare policies.
* 2006 ex ecutiv e salaries and bonuses unclear (due to lack of continuity linked to changes in statistical surv ey categories).
These policies include conversion from Source: Annual Report on Incorporated Company Statistics (Ministry of Finance).
non-regular to regular employment, greater

Conversion to a Domestic Demand-Driven
Economy against the Negative Impact on theDomestic Economy due to Confusion inInternational Money Markets
The confusion on international money markets
caused by the subprime mortgage crisis originating in
the United States (stemming from the extension ofhome mortgages to persons in low-income brackets
and other individuals with low creditworthiness) is
now impacting the real economy.
The international speculative capital that flowed
into such subprime mortgage spilled over into themarkets for crude oil, grain and other commodities,
contributing to the sharp increase in the price of
crude oil. The increase in international demand forbio-energy and other areas has also become a factor
that is acting to drive up grain prices. Furthermore,

the massive flow of capital into private equity funds
and hedge funds fueled corporate mergers andacquisitions for the sake of securing high earnings
over the short time, raising concerns that this will
exert a major impact on the economy and jobs.
In addition, the sluggish consumption andeconomic slowdown domestically in the U.S. due tothe subprime mortgage crisis, along with the impactof the sharp rise in the yen and the fall in the dollar
are influencing Japan’s economy negatively as seenin the lowering of the earnings of Japanese exportindustries, the decrease of stock prices and others.

2The impact of this confusion on overseas markets
has led to a surge in the prices of gasoline andkerosene domestically in Japan, as well as higher
prices for foods and other daily living necessities.
This puts pressure on the lifestyles of lower-income
earners, worsening the business conditions for smalland medium-sized enterprises and leading to further
expansion in social disparities and higher levels of
uncertainty in people’s lives.
In addition to this, in the midst of an environment
in which wages have stagnated, Japan’s fixed-rate tax
cuts on income tax were abolished from 2007, theannual premiums for employee pension plans and the
National Pension System were raised, new increases

were made in the out-of-pocket burden for seniorcitizen healthcare and other policies have contributed
to higher personal cost burdens for the Japanesepeople.
In order to counter the impact that the subprime
mortgage crisis has on the real economy as well,there is a need to revitalize personal consumption andconvert to an economic system led by domestic
demand, engineer recoveries for small- andmedium-sized enterprises, local industries andregional economies, breath new life into theagricultural, forestry and fisheries industries, create
local jobs and take other steps to get the regional
areas of Japan back on their feet.

Reconstructing the Breakdown in Working
Conditions and Labor Legislation
From the latter half of the 1990s, as a result of cuts inpersonnel expenditures and the introduction of
deregulation policies in the labor sector aimed atallowing companies to reap short-term earnings,
there has been a sharp increase in the number ofpart-time, dispatched and other non-regular workers,
with workers in that category now comprising morethan one-third of all workers. There has also been
growth in the ranks of daily dispatched workers,“Internet cafe refugees” (homeless persons who
spend their nights at such 24-hour cafes) and otherworking poor. Finding employment has become amajor challenge for freeter (young casual workers
excluding students and homemakers), NEET (young
people Not in Education, Employment or Training)and others impacted by the so-called “ice age forjobseekers.”
Long working hours, including unpaid overtime
service, have become the norm at the workplace, withincreasing cases of mental health problems as well as
death or suicide from excessive overtime work, orkaroshi. As a result, the number of suicides topped
30,000 persons for nine consecutive years from 1998,
becoming yet another serious social problem.
The unemployment rate,
Rising Percentage of Non-Regular Workers
while having improved, still(unit: 10,000 persons)remains at around four percent.
(%)
Besides this, new hiring is
40
5,000
RegularorkersRegularwworkers
coming to focus on part-timers,
Non-regularorkers
Non-regularwworkers
4,500
33.7 35
dispatched workers, contract
Shareofofnon-regulars
non-regulars
Share
4,000
workers and other non-regular30
3,418
workers, with gaps also
3,500
widening between different
25
3,000
regions.
20
2,500
In order to establish
2,000
dignified labor, it will be vital to1,738 15
correct the trend toward longer
1,500
10
working hours, shift from
1,000
non-regular to regular work,
5500
review
thepracticeof
dispatchedwork,realizeequal
0treatment and otherwise revamp
1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2006 2007
(year)
and reconstruct labor legislation.
Source: Labor Force Survey Detailed Results (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications).

3

Realizing a Society with a Work-Life Balance by
Reforming Working Patterns, ProvidingChild-Rearing Support etc.
long working hours, enhancement of the principle of
The bipolarization and expanding disparity in work
equal treatment, reviews of working patterns,
and income, along with the growing number of
persons in the poor bracket have served to spur thesubstantial improvements in the quality and quantityof child-care services and other sweeping upgrading
decline in Japan’s birthrate. In particular, the increaseof childrearing support, along with expansion ofin the number of freeters and other non-regularsocial approaches.
workers among the younger generation, the long
working hours of male employees in their 30s,
Japanese Poverty Rate on the Rise
the heavy child-care responsibilities placedon women and other trends are making it(%) ~ Poverty Trends in Five Industrialized Countries ~increasingly difficult to achieve a harmonious
18Mid-1980s
17.9 17.1
work-life balance. Ample problems also exist
Mid-1990s
16
15.3
16.7
with regard to the inadequate quality and
2000
13.7
14
quantity of child-care services, insufficient
11.9
11.4
numbers of obstetricians and pediatricians
12and other issues linked to childbirth and
10.9
10
9.8
child-care support.
9.1
8
The Council of Executives of Public and
6.9
8.0
6.4
7.57.0Private Sectors to Promote Work-Life
6
Balance has drafted the “Charter for
4
Work-Life Balance,” together with “Action
2
Policy for Promoting Work-Life Balance.” In0moving to achieve these targets, the issues
UnitedJapan
United Germany France
faced from here on will include corrections inStatesKingdom
Source: Prepared by Professor Kohei Komamura of Keio Univ ersity , based on OECD pov erty rate surv ey .

Responding to Global Warming and the Other
Negative Aspects of Globalization
Globalization contains positive aspects that include
the expansion of world trade and growth in
employment. This trend has also triggered negative
aspects, however, such as expanding gaps between
the rich and poor, the worsening state of the global
environment and other problems. As responses tothese negative sides, with this being the middle year
in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),
demands are being made for contributions to Official
Development Assistance (ODA) for the sake of
eradicating
poverty,achievingfair
trade,

environmental protection and other programs andefforts aimed at realizing a sustainable and fair global
society.
In 2008 in particular, there are strong demands forinternational contributions accompanying theachievement of carbon dioxide reduction targets in
the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change, the drawing up of apost-Kyoto Protocol international framework throughthe G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit as well as domestic
countermeasures against global warning in Japan.

4

Attaining Security and Safety in People’s Lives
and Building a “New Framework of PublicServices”
As a reflection of excessive market competition and alack of corporate ethics, falsification of seismic
resistance levels in housing, fraudulent labeling of“consume by” expiration dates and other food-related
problems, the recent tainting with poison of imported
frozen foods, illicit business practices utilizing
installment sales and other issues have come tothreaten the safety of foods, homes and other aspectsof daily life. There are accumulating problems at thefrontlines of education such as bullying, truancy andother issues. There have been problems of corruption
surrounding equipment purchases by Japan’s
Ministry of Defense, 50 million pension records
apparently unaccounted for and other examples thathave heightened public distrust of politics, thegovernment and administration, institutions and inother areas.
Moreover, in the midst of the current decline infamily and community functions due to the fallingbirthrate, the aging population and other factors,
there are redoubled needs for effective child-care,nursing care, regional revitalization and otherservices. In the interest of maintaining “food safety,”the cultivation of secure communities and other steps
to maintain security and peace of mind in daily life, itwill be critical to achieve the dimension of so-called“new framework of public services” through public
employees and other diversified networks based on“solidarity and mutual assistance” in regionalsocieties.

Inadequate Recognition of the Government on
the Widening Disparities, and Demands for Its
Policy Changes“regional revitalization strategies” and otherexamples of consideration for social disparity and theissues faced by regional areas. Nevertheless, thegovernment steadfastly sticks to the conventional
pattern of uniform fiscal rebuilding, including cuts insocial security spending growth by 220 billion yen
and other sacrifices in people’s livelihoods. As aresult, it remains totally unknown to what degree thisadministration can achieve corrections in the growing
social disparities.
The economic and fiscal management promotedby the government to date, which has led to widenedsocial disparities, the undermining of jobs, thecollapse of regional healthcare and medical services
and other tolls on people’s lives, has already reachedits limits. The time has truly arrived, therefore, topromote sweeping policy changes in order to redresssocial disparities, resolve problems of poverty,
establish the dignity of labor, rebuild the social safety
net, review tax revenues for decentralization andrealize a society characterized by a constructive
work-life balance.

Under the cabinet of former Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi, the existence of expanding social
disparities was definitely recognized, with policies toexpand those gaps promoted under the banner of freemarket principles. The subsequent government ofPrime Minister Shinzo Abe championed the policy of“giving people a fresh start.” However, little if any
progress in closing the social disparities was seen,
with Abe suddenly stepping down from his post in
the fall of 2007 and failing to live up to the highexpectations placed in his policy.
Taking over for Abe has been the administration ofPrime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who announced thelaunch of a new organization characterized byadvancing the so-called “Security and Safety in
Everyday Life Project” through the perspective ofconsumers and ordinary citizens across five sectors(headed by eating, working, producing, protecting
and living) and promoted integration of consumer
administration. The mottos of this approach consistof “independence and coexistence,” “closing the gaps
between non-regular and regular employment,”5

Priority Policies
RENGO is devoted to establishing an economic and social system combining fairness and efficiency,
demanding the creation of a “work-centered welfare society,” correcting the economically stratified
society and helping to build a social fabric stressing the importance of solidarity and compassion.
Based on this position, RENGO will formulate its priority policies on specific themes for fiscal year 2009
with the keenest consideration for the aforementioned “Overview.”
facilities operated by employment and ability development
organizations, etc.).

(1) Establishment of Frameworks to Redress Disparities
c Promotion of the Raise of Minimum Wages over the
Medium Termf Ban of Unjust Discrimination(a) Age-based discrimination in soliciting, hiring, etc. should bebanned.

(a) RENGO will strive for achieving wage levels which adequately
manifest the function to sustain the bottom bracket of wages
and enable the workers to live.

(b) Along the line of the idea of normalization, approaches tomaking shifts “from welfare to employment” should be
strengthened, and an environment should be cultivated in which
the handicapped persons can live while working according totheir work volition and ability.

d Revision of the Manpower Dispatching Business Law
from the Viewpoint of Protecting Workers(a) Bans on the registration-type dispatch of those other than 26
general job categories and other sweeping revisions are needed.
“Day laborer dispatches” should be banned, and “day-by-day
employment” should be done in direct hiring. Employment
measures to prevent these legal revisions from causing theinsecurity in employment should be devised.

(c) In preparing for the conclusion of the United Nations Treaty on
the Rights of the Handicapped People, the concept of “rational
consideration” and other areas should be put in order andspeedy examinations of the legislation of domestic laws should
be made.

g Realization of Fair Business Relations(b) From a viewpoint of protecting workers, are needed theestablishment of regulations to deem as direct hiring (in casesof dispatches to banned work categories, etc.), strengthening of
the responsibilities of user companies where temporary
workers are assigned, clarification of labor-management
relationship rules surrounding dispatching work, realization ofharsher penalties for legal violations, strengthened authority
and functions of the worker dispatch fair operation cooperation
member system, stricter licensing standards for worker
dispatch businesses, margin regulations, improvements in
temp-to-hire placement systems and so forth.

(a) In order to halt abuse of dominant bargaining positions andestablish fair business relations and transparent markets, theeffectiveness of the Antimonopoly Law, the Subcontracting Law
and other legislations should be heightened throughstrengthening the function, system and authority of the Fair
Trade Commission of Japan and other bodies, introducing
harsher penalties for legal violations and raising awareness ofrelated laws and otherwise.

h Raise of the Standard of Equal Opportunity Education(c) Advancing speedy studies using overseas legal systems as
references, the establishment of the principles of equal andbalanced treatment in basic working conditions (including
wages) for dispatched workers should be sought.

(a) In order to further enhance the quality of compulsory education,
efforts to realize smaller classes (setting as the standard
approximately 20 students per class) should be promoted.
(b) Improvements should be made in scholarship systems andexpansion of school attendance assistance as a safety net toprevent economic conditions from leading to educational
disparities.

e Employment Security and Skill Development(a) Stressing the importance of securing stable employment andfair treatment, national employment policies unified withindustrial policies should be established. The principle that
employment should be on the basis of direct unfixed-term
employment should be established and employment measuresdesigned to create high-caliber employment opportunities
should be strengthened.

(c) Information disclosure by boards of education should bepromoted, while working to specialize the role of education
administration in support of the frontlines at schools.
(d) From the perspectives of the rights of working people, the needfor trade unions and other aspects of the “dignity of labor,” theeducation that functions to foster constructive work attitudes
and vocational values should be enriched.

(b) In order to promote and secure the employment of young
people, women, seniors, handicapped persons and all otherpeople with the desire to work, employment measures such asengineering the change from non-regular to regular work
should be strengthened.

(2) Realization of a Society with a Work-Life Balancec Regulation of Long Working Hours(c) With regard to occupational skill development policy measurestargeting part-time, fixed-term contract, dispatched, contracted
and other non-regular workers, young people, handicapped
persons, mothers of fatherless families, persons who have notyet subscribed for employment insurance, etc, efforts to expand
public vocational training should be advanced and support forcompanies should be strengthened. In consideration of the factthat public vocational training serves as an employment safety
net while also shouldering an important role in cultivating
human resources and carrying on and developing skills andtechnology in manufacturing fields and other areas, efforts
should be made to avoid easygoing private sector consignmentand consolidation of public vocational training andimplementation agencies (prefectural occupational skill
development schools, public occupational ability development(a) From the perspective of attaining a balance between work andlife through correcting excessive long working hours andenabling everyone to pursue work, good health, family life,
self-enlightenment, participation in community activities andother activities in a balanced manner, RENGO will tackle theissue of raising the statutory premiums for overtime work (50percent increase for overtime work and 100 percent increase forholiday work) and examine how the standard limit of overtime
work should be and other related issues and a revision of theLabor Standards Law will be made as such.
(b) RENGO will strive for the revision of the Law to Improve
Setting of Working Hours, etc. by placing the purpose of the law
on “a balance between work and life” through setting 1,800

6hours as the numerical target for total annual working hours offull- time workers and other measures.

(3) Establishment of a Social Safety Net Enabling Everyone
to Live Safely

d Establishment of the Security of Employment and Equal
Treatment for Working Peoplec Using of Tax Revenues to Fund the Basic Pension,
Unification of Employee Pensions and Other Pension
System Reform(a) RENGO will strive for legal arrangements to ensure equal
treatment, minimum wages and other measures regardless ofthe types of employment or work.

(a) To maintain current pension benefit levels while resolving thehollowing out of basic pensions and failure to provide pensions
and constructing a “pension system covering everyone,” using
tax revenues to fund the basic pensions should be realized in2009.

e Establishment of Taxation and Social Security Systems
Neutral to Working Patterns(a) In order to realize taxation systems neutral to working patterns,
RENGO will strive for integrating the tax deduction for the
spouse with that for the dependents and for establishing a new
system of evenly dividing husband-wife income (by two). In
addition, the tax deduction for dependents (children up to their
third year of junior high school) should l be transferred to the
expansion of the children’s allowance.

(b) Efforts should be made for unifying the finance units and“benefits and burdens” of employee pension plans and all typesof mutual aid pension plans, for restructuring a genuine
employee pension system to which all employed workers(including part-timers) subscribed, and for the unification of apension system targeting all residents regardless of status asemployees or self-employed persons. In this connection,
additional costs related to the former public service pension
periods should be basically borne under the responsibilities of
the national and local governments.

(b) Social insurance and unemployment insurance schemes should
be applied to all employees.
(c) The requirements for the eligibility for survivor’s welfare
pensions should be lowered down step by step, while
establishing a system for continuing subscription to theemployees’ pension plan (for the component proportionate toincome) to ensure the right to receive handicapped persons’pension and survivors’ pension while unemployed.

(c) Measures appropriating pension office expenses to premiums
and reserve funds should be immediately halted, while
returning total value to the liability of the National Treasury,
and a system should be established to examine at the forums
featuring participation of workers and employers that contributethe premiums.

(d) A premium waiver system during child-care leave for National
Pension Category I assured parties who are employees ofunincorporated enterprises or other entities should beestablished.

d Establishment of a New Livelihood Guarantee Systemthrough Combinations of Positive Employment andSocial Security Policies

f Establishment of Social Infrastructure Facilitating
Choices of Approaches to Diversified Working and Living
Patterns(a) Targeting self-reliance support for non-regular workers,
long-term unemployed workers and needy persons, social
safety net functions through combinations of positive
employment and social security policies should be restructured.
Toward this end, a new three-tiered livelihood guarantee systemshould be established, which consists of: (1) combinations with
employment policies and strengthened functions of social
insurance and occupational insurance (Tier 1); (2)establishment of a “work and life support benefits” system forlong-term unemployed and others (Tier 2); and (3) the move tosocial allowances for housing assistance and other sweeping
reforms in the life welfare benefit system (Tier 3).

(a) In order to ensure time for child-care and nursing-care, holidays
and shortened work-hour systems should be expanded, and thegreater work flexibility based on the premise of personal
selection (telecommuting, evaluation system reviews, securing
required personnel, etc.) should be arranged.
(b) Expansion of public scholarship systems, reduction of cuttingof day-care fee burden by half, greater children’s allowancesand child-care leave benefits, expansion of the supply ofprivately owned rental houses to the families raising children
and other measures to alleviate economic burdens should be
strengthened.

e Establishment of Secure and Reliable Medical-Care and
Health-care Insurance Systems(a) To prevent the breakdown in regional medical-care services,
steps should be taken to alleviate the shortage of doctors andnurses working in obstetrics, pediatrics and other divisions at
hospitals. Through strengthening the role of the Prefectural
Council for Medical-Care Services and through making
cooperation from the doctors obligatory in achieving
appropriate deployment based on regional medical-care service
plans, the environment to enable potential nurses and otherprofessionals to return to the medical-care frontlines with peaceof mind should be improved together with efforts to secure thenecessary financial resources to make these moves possible.
Also a substantial review should be made with regard to
medical school quotas to increase the number of doctors.

(c) In order to establish comprehensive support for cultivating thenext generation, integration of the revenue sources forchildren’s allowances, child-care leave benefits and othercategories should be promoted to newly establish a “Child-CareFund” (tentative name).
(d) Expansion of day-care services so as to accept all children“wishing to receive day-care,” expansion of nursing-careinsurance system, betterment of regional medical-care services(mother-child health, pediatric care, etc.) and other public
improvements in basic services for life should be promoted.

g Strengthening of the System to Promote a Work-Life
Balance(b) Even in the event of reductions in the state contribution to
government-managed medical and health insurance as anational financial support measure in FY2008, a prompt returnof the contribution share to the 13-percent level from thefollowing fiscal year should be realized, with no further
implementation of the reduction measure. Targeting the goal ofachieving stable management of the National Health Insurance
Association, financial support by the state should be returned tothe basic benchmark of a 16.4 percent share.

(a) RENGO will strive for realizing a society characterized by awork-life balance, based on considerations for the “Charter forWork-Life Balance” and the “Action Policy for Promoting
Work-Life Balance.”(b) Formulation and disclosure of the “Action Plans for Business
Owners” in the “Law to Promote Support Measures for
Fostering Next Generations” should be made thoroughly
known.

(c) Regarding the medical-care system for those persons of “latterelderly ages,” efforts should be made to verify the actual
situation of the system from the institutional, financial andoperational aspects, followed by reviewing the system
including the examination on the possible discontinuance of thesystem. Upon verification of whether or not the premiums set(c) The formation of the agreements among government, workers
and employers in regional areas should be promoted, and, at thesame time, the formulation and implementation of regional
action plans should be advanced.

7

by individual wide-area insurance associations are appropriate,
reviews should be made on how the patient burden should be,
including that of those persons of “earlier elderly age”) and theincreased portion of patient burden.

(c) Regarding corporate taxes, the tax rate on ordinary corporations
should be put back to the status prior to the introduction of
permanent tax reductions and reviews should be made on
special taxation measures and other measures.

f Improvements of Employment and Working Environmentof Nursing Care Workers to Secure High-Quality Nursing
Care Services(d) To eliminate retention of the consumer tax by companies,changes in the invoicing method, abolition of the simple
taxation system, tax exemption limit and other steps should betaken. In addition, tax system based measures to ease theregressive nature of the consumption tax should be devised.

(a) In revising nursing care remuneration in FY 2009, from theperspective of securing high-quality nursing care services, thenursing care remuneration should be set so as to contribute toimprovements in the position, employment and working
conditions of nursing care workers as specialists, on the basis ofa national consensus.

(e) Based on the roles of taxes and social security, necessary tax
system reforms should be made together with public pension
system reforms. No participation will be made in thegovernment debate based on the assumption of a “consumption
tax hike.”(b) Grasping the actual situation of labor’s share of nursing careremuneration, a presentation of wage standard models capableof assessing future prospects should be made, and “specializedcare-givers” system and other steps capable of providing
professional responses to persons suffering from senility or tohandicapped people should be established and taken to establish
career enhancement schemes.

d Tax System Reform Appropriate for Decentralization ofPower(a) To raise the discretion of the regions, tax revenue sources
should be transferred to the regions to put shares of national andregional tax sources on equal footing.
(b) Financial adjustments among regions that are now funded by
the regional corporation special transfer tax should be stopped.
Corrections in financial capacity disparities between regions
should be made through reviewing methods used to determine
distribution standards for local tax grants and other means.

g Strengthening of the Functions of Labor Standards
Inspection Offices and “Hello Work” as Safety Nets for
Employment(a) To secure fair labor standards through compliance with labor
related laws and regulations at workplaces throughout thecountry, steps should be taken to increase the number of labor
standards inspectors, while avoiding irresponsible streamliningof Labor Standards Inspection Offices.

(5) Economic and Financial Management Contributing toRedresses in Disparities and Expansion in Domestic
Demandc Economic and Financial Management with Sustained
Economic Growth and Fair Distribution as Top Priorities(b) The “Hello Work”, public employment agency, serves as asafety net for the employment of the handicapped persons,mothers in fatherless families, welfare benefit recipients,
freeters (young casual workers excluding students andhomemakers), NEETs (young people Not in Education,
Employment or Training), long-term unemployed, workers in
middle age group and others who find it difficult to find jobs.
Because it functions as core institution for employment
measures in the regions, the integration and/or merging plans
for these offices should be reviewed and no comprehensive
consignment of these services to the private sector should be
made.

(a) Measures targeting corrections in disparities as the top priority
should be implemented, while advancing economic
revitalization measures leading to a recovery in spending andexpanded domestic demand.
(b) With a cooperation between the Government and the Bank ofJapan, macroeconomic policies leading to sustained growthfrom the aspects of both fiscal policy and monetary policy
should be promoted.

d Budget Prioritization to Everyday Life Categories andThorough Reviews of Wasteful Expenditures

h Establishment of Human Rights for Foreign Workers(a) With long working hours, unpaid wages, human rights
violations and other situations occurring within the Training
Program and Technical Internship Program for foreigners,
drastic reviews of the system should be made. Steps should betaken to clarify the worker status of trainees with instable legal
positions, while eliminating unfair exploitation by institutions
involved in sending and hosting of such workers.

(a) No reductions in annual expenditures should made on a uniform
basis, and priority should be put on budget distribution toannual expenditure categories leading directly to welfare, social
security, employment, the environment, education and otheraspects of everyday life categories, so that the employment andlife of the workers can be secured and their future uncertainties
can be resolved.

(b) Regardless of the possession or non-possession of work permits,efforts should be made to reliably apply laws pertaining to labor
to foreign workers working in Japan, while providing education
for the children of foreigner workers, cares for victims ofhuman trafficking, and other services targeting foreign workers.

(b) To achieve steady reconstruction of public finances, efforts
should be made to enhance financial management policy fromthe perspectives of both assets and liabilities, while reviewing
nonessential businesses or inappropriate expenditures based on
rigorous inspections and evaluations of policies andeffectiveness and otherwise methodically reducing wastefulspendings.

(4) Strengthening of Income Redistribution Function andRealization of Fundamental Tax System Reform(c) Based on the will of the people, budget deliberations and theaccounts settlement deliberation system and process should be
so reformed as to deliberate and determine budgetary
allocations and tax burdens.

c Blocking of the Plan of “Tax Hikes Targeting Salaried
Workers”, Strengthened of Income Redistribution
Function and the Review of Tax Systems

e Vitalization of Regional Economies and Creation of
Employment(a) Reduction or abolishment of personal deduction amounting toreal tax increase or other tax hikes aimed at salaried workers
should not be introduced. To restore the function of income
redistribution through taxation, measures to raise the highest
income tax rate and to strengthen real estate taxation and othermeasures should be taken to progressively raise the income tax
level.

(a) Targeting improvements in the unemployment rate to the lower
3 percent level, measures for employment security should be
expanded. In the regions characterized by particularly harsh
employment environments, the measures based on
consideration of regional traits should be advanced.

(b) Targeting the move to taxation on aggregated income, efforts
should be made to introduce a taxpayer identification number
system at an early point in time.

(b) In addition to the collaborations of academic circles, industries
and administrations, with “industries, government authorities,
academic circles, financial institutions and trade union

8

organizations” in which regional financial institutions andregional trade union organizations participate working together
as one body, forums should be set up to examine the measuresfor economic vitalization including employment creation, newbusiness development and technology development suited to
specific regional characteristics.

rapidly secured and nurtured, together with necessary budgetarymeasures for it.
(d) In order to promote earthquake-proof performance diagnosis ofexisting buildings and their repair works together with removalof asbestos, assistant systems for them should be expanded andenhanced.

(c) To resolve the problems of regional societies, support measuresfor community businesses and small- and medium-sized
venture enterprises should be strengthened to achieve regional
revitalization and job creation.

(e) Implementing unified disaster prevention and disaster damage
reduction measures ranging from mountainous regions toshorelines, community development facilitating early recovery
following actual disasters should be promoted, together withadvancing further enhancement of disaster victim rescue
systems.

f Ensuring Inheritance of Technologies and Skills andHuman Resource Developmente(a) Aiming at not only passing on the technologies and skills in“making things,” but also securing technology and skilledworkers and cultivating human resources free of generationalbias, the envisaged “Craftsmanship National Strategy Vision”
should be steadily implemented.

(a) The council which is involved in formulating integrated plansof a large region based on the Law on the Plan for Sustainable
National Land Development, as an arrangement in which
worker representatives, non-profit organizations and otherentities can participate, should implement follow-up evaluationsin the same vein as the Plan for Sustainable National Land
Development (a national plan).

(b) From the perspective of economic vitalization and strengthened
competitiveness, long-term and consistent schemes to cultivate
human resources should be established to improve basic
capacity as a member of the society and technical knowledge,
with a close collaboration among industries, government
authorities, academic circles and trade union organizations.

4

Banishment of Vicious Business Methods(a) Under the Specified Commercial Transactions Law, exhibitionbusiness practices should also be targeted for regulation.

(6) Ensuring Livelihood Security and Safety(b) The application targets of prepayment refunding responsibilities
within the Installment Sales Law should be expanded to include
store transactions and mail-order sales. Conditions required for
application should not be limited to the cases of falsified
explanations, but also should include “multi-vendor
high-pressure sales,” forcing of excessive goods on customers
and intentional default and bankruptcy.

c Securing of Food Safety and Improvement of the Food
Self-Sufficiency Rate(a) In view of the role played by food labeling as an important
information source for consumers in correctly understanding
food contents, selecting commodities and using them inappropriate fashions, unified reviews should be made in theJapan Agricultural Standards Law, the Food Sanitation Law
and other legislation related to complicated food labeling, sothat the details demanded by consumers can be easily
understood.

(c) Regarding countermeasures against excessive credit under the
Installment Sales Law, effective countermeasures should betaken through clarifying excessive credit benchmarks.

g(b) A scheme should be established for the sharing of food safety
information with all related agencies in mounting swift andprecision responses. In addition, under the current conditions ofreliance on imports for over 60% of the national food supply,
the quarantine system and other systems should be strengthened
as a safety net to maintain food safety.

Establishment and Expansion of Countermeasuresagainst Infectious Diseases(a) With regards to new strains of influenza and other infectious
diseases with the threat of exerting serious impact on the lives
and health of the people, systems to implement earliest detection,
prompt inspection and confinement measures should beestablished by the national government, local governments,
companies, health-care facilities and other related organizations.

(c) In the midst of the tightening international food demand-supply
situation, steps should be taken to improve the foodself-sufficiency rate from the perspective of greater stability inthe food supply. Toward that end, efforts should be made to
expand production and consumption of domestically grownagricultural and marine products through advancing the
agriculture and fisheries industries, promoting consumption at
the place of origin and otherwise. In addition, the idea of foodmileage (*1) should be introduced to realize eco-friendly foodpolicies and lead to expanded consumption of domestic-grownagricultural produce.
(*1):

Self-Reliant Regional Development(b) In order to enable all the people to receive secure and propermeans as treatments and preventions against new strains ofinfluenza and other infectious diseases, systems for production
and stocking of vaccines, anti-influenza drugs and otherpharmaceuticals should be arranged to make swift responses
toward that end.
(c) In order that, at the time of outbreaks of infectious diseases, theswift and precise information can be supplied concerning theregion of outbreak, symptoms and methods of examination,
diagnosis and treatment, and that the measures to prevent the
spread of infection including patient isolation, restrictions on
movements and other steps can be implemented, systems basedon collaboration among various pertinent organizations should beestablished.

A unit conceived to numerically express the burden placed on theenvironment by imported agricultural produce, computed by multiplying
the volume of agricultural produce (tons) by transport distance(kilometers). In 2000 the food mileage of Japan was 500 billion
tons/kilometer – 3.3 times that of South Korea and 3.6 times that of theUnited States.

d Safe and Secure Community Development(7) Establishing “New Framework of Public Services”(a) Efforts should be promoted for further moves toward
incorporating universal and barrier-free designs in urban
planning and community development.

c Promotion of Administrative Reforms with Consideration
for the Idea of “New Framework of Public Services”(a) In reforming Independent Administrative Corporations, noirresponsible discontinuance, integration or privatization shouldbe implemented through “Consolidation and Rationalization
Plans.” Upon advancing consolidation and rationalization, thegovernment bears accountability for securing employment.
Thorough disclosure of information concerning the flow ofcapital between Independent Administrative Corporations,related corporations and other entities should be implemented.
Abolishing discretionary contracts, shifts to transparent
contracts should be promoted.

(b) The national government and local governments should
maintain and secure regional public transportation systems
indispensable for the livelihood of the citizens. With regard to
mountainous regions, remote islands and other isolated districts,
the measures to maintain the systems, in particular, should beincorporated in regional development plans.
(c) Clarifying design change procedures to achieve prompt
approval within the time limits for building confirmation, thejudges who decide structural calculation conformity should be

9

(b) In approaching reforms in public services, rather than simply
placing priorities on economic rationality, the check system inthe face of deregulation and entry of private companies should
be strengthened, and transfer of the clout of local governments
and their revenue sources and reviews on their annual
expenditures structure should be promoted.

(a) Wide national debates should be made concerning“Environment Tax and Carbon Tax” (tentative names) and adomestic emissions trading system, together with studies ofsystem contents and approach.

f Contributions to International Community throughFurther Expansion of ODA Quality and Quantity(c) With regard to competitive bidding between the public andprivate sectors, the quality and levels of public services thatmust be guaranteed to the public should be clarified, on thepremise of the principles of “stable supply and securing of
public services that are high in both efficiency and quality,”“guarantees of user control over the quality, format and otheraspects of services” and “ensuring of employment and working
conditions enabling the suppliers of services take pride in theirwork.”(a) Targeting achievement of United Nations Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), the Government should promote
public participation/social development format Official
Development Assistance (ODA) through collaboration withworkers’ and employers’ organizations including the Japan
International Labor Foundation (JILAF) and othernon-governmental organizations (NGOs). Advance efforts
should be made to achieve goal of ODA level of 0.7 percent of
GNP.

(d) Regarding contracts accompanying the works and otheractivities entrusted by public institutions, thorough applicationof the principles of competitive bidding should be made toensure transparency and fairness and prevent the spread of
discretionary contracts. In addition, thorough compliance withfair labor standards in public contracts and labor-related laws
should be achieved through the ratification of the ILO
Convention No.94 concerning Labor Clauses (Public Contracts)
and the legislation of laws, pursuing as well an integrated
evaluation bidding system and other means.

g Conclusion of FTA and EPA Based on Social and Labor
Considerations(a) Focused on the World Trade Organization, socially fair andtransparent and sustainable free trade systems should bepromoted. Regarding Free Trade Agreements (FTA), Economic
Partnership Agreements (EPA) and other bilateral agreements
as mutually complementary functions, implementation ofhuman movements and the responses accompanying thosemovements should be based on the premise of guaranteeing therights of workers in related countries and taking into ample
consideration the domestic conditions. Toward that end,arrangements for participation of trade union representatives
and other social partners in regional level and bilateral meetings
and research sessions should be established.

d Drastic Reforms of the Public Servant System and PublicService Labor-Management Relations, and theEstablishment of Basic Trade Union Rights(a) By establishing the basic trade union rights for the public
employees, conversion to a democratic public service system
based on autonomous labor-management relations should bepromoted.

(b) The acceptance of more foreign workers through the use of EPA
to achieve mutual approval of qualifications in the partnercountry should not be allowed.

(b) A Cabinet-led administrative system, with corrections incompartmentalized administration should be established. The“career system” should be abolished and “parachuting” format
private appointments of retired government officials and otherpersonnel practices should be drastically reviewed. Exchanges
between public and private sector personnel, creation of fair
and transparent reemployment schemes should be promoted. In
addition, through utilizing improvements in public employee
motivation and morale, administrative services capable ofearning public trust should be realized.

h Promotion of CSR to Achieve a Sustainable Society(a) Vigorous approaches to the promotion of corporate social
responsibility (CSR) should be made. In doing so, thoroughcommitments should be made to CRS management stressing
importance of legal compliance, human rights, labor and theenvironment, to help correct management environmentscharacterized by attaching excessive emphasis on shareholders,pursuit of short-term profit and other issues, thereby
contributing to achieve a sustainable society.

(8) Realization of a Sustainable and Fair Global Society

i Establishment of Corporate Legal Systems and CapitalMarket Rulesc Consensus-Building through the G8 Summit Hosted inJapan(a) Based on a firm grasp of the application status of the Company
Law, Financial Instruments and Exchange Law and othercorporate legal systems, the establishments of the rules deemednecessary and the revision of laws should be examined.

(a) At the Group of Eight Summit to be hosted by Japan, anagreement on the building-up of a sustainable and fair global
society is expected to be reached, working through dialogue
with social partners. In more specific terms, agreements should
be reached on eradicating poverty, environmental protection,
establishment of trade and investment rules incorporating corelabor standards, establishment of corporate social responsibility,
realizing “decent work” and other themes, so that rules aimed atfair globalization may be created and strengthened.

(b) In order to secure transparency in investment funds, protect theworkers at investment target companies and realize proper
taxation, efforts should be made to advance cooperation withother developed countries while making improvements indomestic laws and pertinent rules.

d Reliable Implementation of Kyoto Protocol(a) In moving into the first commitment period of the Kyoto
Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (2008 ~ 2012), various policies to reducegreenhouse gas emissions by six percent compared to the levelin 1990 should be promoted in order to implement effective
global warming countermeasures.
(b) Studies should be made on the details and approaches forgreenhouse gas regulations from 2013, when the firstcommitment period of the Kyoto Protocol comes to an end,
while playing a leading role in forming an internationalframework toward this end.

e Studies into “Environment Tax and Carbon Tax”
(tentative names), Domestic Emissions Trading System

10Copyright © 2008 by Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC-RENGO)

All rights reserved

Issue date:

May 1, 2008

Edited and published by:

Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC-RENGO)

Contact:

Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC-RENGO)
3-2-11, Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0062 JAPAN
Phone: +81-3-5295-0526
Fax: +81-3-5295-0548
URL: http://www.jtuc-rengo.org
E-mail: jtuc-kokusai@sv.rengo-net.or.jp「2009 年度

連合の重点政策」（英語版）