"The working class, its role and
its mission today.
The tasks and concrete experiences of the Communist Party in the working class
and the trade union."
Brussels, 16-18 May 2008
www.icsbrussels.org , ics@icsbrussels.org
Current Situation in Japan and Duties of New Socialist Party
New Socialist Party of Japan
Increasing Gaps between the Rich & the Poor and Poverty
Discrepancies grow sharply and poverty spreads as a consequence of the package of neo-liberal reforms.
In comparison with that in Europe, poverty has been spreading swifter for these ten years. Along with the expansion of income gaps the number of absolutely poor families has surged: 1.07 million families are beneficiaries of the government’s Life Protection Allowances and the estimated another three times more families are to be listed next as applicants for the service. The gaps hang around both in the households of the elderly and the working population. Poverty of the former comes from the policy of preferential taxation for the rich behind the budget reduction for social services, like pensions and health care. In other words, it stemmed from the weakened social re-distribution capacity. The latter is a direct result of the irregular employment system, or more workers are hired in the unstable conditions. The social strata are fixed due to expensive education costs and the debacle of public education system.
People receive the reduced sum of benefits in all the social services, including pensions and face poorer health and medical attention and elderly care. Dissatisfactions haunt among people. Struggles to defend the social insurance services and improve public education are the most important duties of the New Socialist Party (NSP).
Irregular workers, who are called dispatched workers, part-time workers or temporary staff, occupy as much as 32% of the entire workforce as of December, 2007. The ratio is higher among women workers. Some young people are poorer, because they are forced to hop from one job to another very often or they are left without a job, deprived of opportunities for education and vocational training.
A big number of young irregular workers constitute low income strata, alienated from marriage and child-raising due to economic reasons. This eventually results in the smaller number of childbirths, which poses as a social crisis. Wages for workers of small business entities with employees from five to 29 in the number, which absorb 42% of workforce, have been falling for years.
In spite of thriving poverty due to the neo-liberal reforms, counterattacks to the social phenomena are not sufficiently staged in Japan. The principal cause is from the national center of labor movements of Japan. The Japanese Trade Unions Confederation (=JTUC, Rengo) adopts a labor-management cooperation policy and is not ready to fight for the very demands of working people. The union organization rate has dropped below 20%, and an overwhelming number of workers are left unorganized. Influences of political parties representing workers are dispersed and diminished by the introduction of small constituency election system, a neo-liberal political measure.
The Japanese labor movements, different from the experiences in Europe, which began with in-house trade unions after World War II tend not to support struggled of unorganized workers or irregular workers, but under the today’s circumstances the situation changes. Existing unions enhance their struggles to get united with workers in the community-based unions and organize job-hoppers independently. Therefore the NSP’s tasks are to assist these struggles and strengthen community-based unions so as to raise the disadvantageous states of irregular workers to those of regular workers, demand equal working conditions and win wages enough to support living.
Furthermore, young workers in Japan are forced to lead a harsh life even though they are employed on the regular status due to the peculiar seniority wage system. The NSP works to improve working conditions and assist struggles to raise wages.
Struggles to Impede Constitution Amendment and to Defend Peace
The government of Japan consolidates the US-Japan military alliance to work jointly in the wars of aggression in Afghanistan and Iraq led by the United States. Japan eagerly takes part in the missile defense initiatives and enhances its military presence in the eastern Asia. Every year around 5 trillion Yen of the budget is allotted for the belligerent purpose to strengthen capabilities of aggressive nature, especially, with abilities to operate overseas.
The ruling class of Japan now commits in military operations of the Japan’s forces (Self Defense Forces) abroad to cope with the expanded business activities of multinational corporations headquartered in Japan. They want to amend Constitution, an epoch-making peace constitution which renounces wars and prohibits possession of war potentials. It was promulgated in remorse for the extraordinary sacrifices inflicted on the working population in the rest of the world during World War II.
The NSP, regarding struggles against amendment of the constitution as the crucial political issue, organize campaigns to oppose the wars of aggression in Afghanistan and Iraq waged by the US military and movements to object the policies to reinforce the bilateral alliance.
The NSP is to intensify solidarity actions in the international arena and fight against imperialist plots.
Our Struggles under Deepening Contradictions of Capitalist System in Japan
Bubbles of sub-prime loans burst in the United States, which violently hit the economy of Japan. Financial institutions here have incurred huge losses too.
The economy has depended heavily on exports to recover its capabilities because the labor exploitation rate here is high and employees have low income to lead to a poor domestic consumption performance. Affected by the recent US stagnation, the Japanese economy takes on deeper uncertainties in real term. Recruiting fresh workforce debilitates and the future employment and wage factors are bleak. Severe struggles will be staged for employment and wages.
The NSP is determined to win confidence of working population and the workers’ class through struggles and mass movements against the growing gaps and for employment and wages to be more influential among people.
Eiko Tomiyama
International Department
New Socialist Party of Japan