137th Central Committee Meeting held (29-30/1/2009)
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Lively debates took place at question time |
JICHIRO held its 137th Central Committee Meeting in Tokyo on January 29-30. 334 Committee members (of which 74 were women) attended the Meeting.
Kenji OKABE, President of the Central Committee was the first to speak: “We will focus all our energies on the 2009 Shunto Spring Labour Campaign which will include issues such as employment countermeasures, overhaul of labour laws including the Worker Dispatch Law. We will continue to appeal to the general public regarding the necessity of wage rises, which will also help to get the economy back on track. JICHIRO will fight with all our strength for wage reform and improvement of treatment of temporary and casual workers in solidarity with Jichiro council of general workers and Jichiro council of labour unions for private corporations in public services. We will also make efforts to get the ‘Public Service Basic Law’ legislated as well as ordinances on tendering reform and public contracts.” President Okabe concluded his speech by appealing for victory of all 19 candidates supported by JICHIRO in the up-coming Lower House general election, and forcing a much-needed change in government.
At this Central Committee Meeting the main pillars of the Shunto Spring Labour Campaign were debated. These were: “Wage reform—making ‘equal pay for equal work’ a reality;” “Work/Life balance and establishing workplace rules;” “Protecting living standards and reconstructing public services.” Also a further 12 local unions with a total of 481 members were welcomed as JICHIRO affiliates.