"We Protest the Outrageous Union Busting of the Zenniken Kansai Nama-Kon Branch", 11 Nov 2018

Recently, there continue to be outrageous crackdowns, in defiance of common sense, against the All-Japan Construction and Transport Solidarity Union, Kinki Regional Headquarters, Kansai Nama-Kon Branch. From August through October, a shocking 23 Union members have been arrested, with many of them even now still detained...

The Shiga and Osaka prefectural police forces are at the center of this suppression, with those in Kyoto, Nara and Wakayama prefectures also working together, competing to crack down repeatedly as if in a contest. Also, an unprecedented aspect of this now is that, following directions from the National Police Agency, the Organized Crime Division has come to the forefront. In other words, the suppression this time is unmistakably a move by the power of the State to treat labor unions as being “antisocial forces” just like boryokudan (organized crime groups) and smash them with all its might...

...[U]nion members have now been arrested on charges of “(attempted) extortion” and “threats” for making demands of the employer in collective bargaining; and on charges of “forcible obstruction of business” for going on strike...If unions cannot press an employer in collective bargaining and cannot exercise their right to act collectively against an employer who ignores the workers’ demands, this is as good as declaring that unions must stop being unions. This situation is an urgent one that will have a serious effect on the future of the labor movement.

What makes the abnormality of this suppression even more apparent is the ugly collusion between the employers’ association executives and racist elements...