Monday, May 12, 2014

NO to unpaid overtime! Protest chants greet Abe at Rengo May Day



The national labor federation Rengo held its May Day rally on April 26th in Yoyogi Park, Tokyo. On the podium were Prime Minister Abe, Labor and Welfare Minister TAMURA Norihisa, YAMAGUCH Natsuo, a leader  of the New Komei Party, and other ruling party members. Rengo President KOGA Nobuaki  explained in his opening speech that Rengo invited political party leaders so that they could listen to the voices of working people. He went on to criticize the government, “We are firmly against the revision of worker protection regulations. We demand a thorough reexamination of the revision of Temp Agency Law.” The next speaker was Prime Minister Abe, whose speech was greeted with chants of “No to unpaid overtime!” Some of the chanters near the podium were dragged away by security officers. One of the chanters spoke to reporters afterwards, “I came here and acted as an individual. I just wanted to protest the fascist policies of Abe. I was surprised at the quiet audience. The privileged organized workers should raise their voices.” The Japan Community Union Federation also exhibited their protest by holding a banner saying, “Prime Minister Abe, scrap the unpaid overtime bill, which will lead to more Karoshi and the Temp Agency Revision Bill, which will lock agency workers into a lifetime of low pay!” (M)
 

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26日、東京・代々木公園の連合メーデー。ひな壇には安倍首相・田村厚労大臣・山口公明党代表など政権メンバーがずらり。維新の会も来ている。古賀連合 会長は主催者挨拶で「働く声をしっかり受け止めてほしいので広く各政党に声をかけた」とまず説明。その上で「労働者保護ルールの改悪に断固反対。派遣村を再現させないために派遣法改悪の抜本的再考を求める」など政府への対決姿勢を明確にした。続いて安倍首相が登壇し発言を始めると突然「残業代ゼロ絶対反対」のコールが起こった。数名だったが演壇近くにいたため声はよく響く。公安らしき人間がすぐにかれらを取り押さえ(写真)、強制的に会場外に排除した。 コールした男性(46歳)は「個人で来た。安倍のファッショ的国政運営を批判したかった。周りがあまりに静かで驚いたが、恵まれた組織労働者にこそ声を上げてほしい」と語っていた。(М 
動画(YouTube 4分)




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