It doesn’t mean that we have been annihilated from history!

 

Although Deputy Prime Minister ASO Taro acknowledged at the budget committee meeting that it was a mistake to have segmented and privatized the Japanese National Railways, we strongly demand that the Liberal Democratic Party apologize to our Kokuro (National Railway Workers’ Union) members whose lives were ruined or who got killed in the process of such a reckless privatization and segmentation of the JNR.

 More than 30 years ago, the Kokuro, to which I belonged, went through a hard struggle, protesting against privatization and segmentation. LDP and Japan Railway Co. pushed through segmentation and privatization of JNR by doing their utmost to undermine Kokuro through destructive attacks on the union with total disregard for law and reason and demobilizing the protest movements.

 In this process, more than 7,000 workers were denied employment by the newly privatized companies, and eventually 1,047 workers were dismissed.  Most of them were members of Kokuro and Zendoro (National Railway Locomotive Engineers’ Union) who opposed the privatization. Since then those unduly dismissed workers and their families have had to continue fighting for their reinstatement. (KUGE Itaru, ex-Kokuro member)

 Photo: Kuge at the time of privatization of the JNR, second from right

われわれは歴史から抹殺された訳ではない！～麻生副総理、国鉄分割・民営化の誤り

認める

無謀な国鉄分割・民営化によって人生を破壊された仲間たちに、命を奪われた仲間た

ちに、自民党政権が謝罪することを要求する！自民党政権の副総理が、国会で国鉄分

割・民営化の誤りを認めました。……３０数年前、私の所属していた国鉄労働組合は

国鉄の分割・民営化に反対し、組織をかけて闘っていました。それに対して、自民党

政権と国鉄当局は、 法と道理を無視したあらん限りの組織攻撃によって国労を弱体

化し、反対運動を解体しながら分割・民営化を強行しました。この過程では７０００

名を超す労働 者が新会社への採用を拒否され、最終的に１０４７名の労働者が解雇

されましたが、そのほとんどは分割・民営化に反対した国労・全動労の組合員でし

た。そし て、不当解雇された１０４７名とその家族は、その後２０年にわたる解雇

撤回闘争を闘わねばならなかったのです。（元国労組合員・久下格） 

＊写真＝当時の写真（右から二人目が筆者）