....Aim of 2004 Spring Labour Offensive:
(1) Fight back against wage cut & destruction of regular wage increase system
(2) Stop rationalization and build up safety operation!
Smash another version of privatization and fragmentation!
(3) Fight back against deterioration of Labour Standard Act, destruction of
workers' right to form unity, and corruption of pension system!
(4) Victory for JNR 1047! Revive the militant railway movement!
(5) Stop the troop dispatch to Iraq! Smash National Emergency Act!
& Down with reactionary Koizumi government!
(6) Protect, strengthen, and expand our trade union!

....ALL RISE FOR 2004 SPRING LABOUR OFFENSIVE!

Our latest battle field is 2004 Spring Labour Offensive. Its aim is against wage cut, rationalization and another privatization and fragmentation! Its aim is for safety, workers' right to form union, pension, lives, victory of dismissed 1047 workers, revival of militant Japan National Railway (JNR) movement, anti-war, international solidarity, and building of organization.

Its focus is train timetable change on March. It has a direct connection with our aim (2), Stop rationalization and build up safety operation! The safety of Japan Railway (JR) is now on the verge of corruption. Privatization, subcontracting, and excessive deregulation have triggered a series of grave accidents:

1999: Five were hit by train to death at Yamanote cargo line
2001: Derailment at Tsurumi station
2003: Failure of overhead conversion and massive confusion at Chuo line
Train collision with shovel left on the track at Keihin Tohoku line
Wrong run by RailStar at Narita line
And this year: Broken railway tracks at Chiba train area.

All of those were triggered by omission of appropriate works and subcontracting. In 1987, when JNR was privatized and fragmented, JR East had 71,800 workers. Now it has just 48,000. Under combined attack of rationalization and subcontracting, maintenance section has been almost evaporated.

Let's see the lesson of British Railway's privatization and death toll of JR railway companies (* This diagram is omitted on the web version). We can clearly see that it is not just British problem but ours also. Disastrous fatal accidents which have happened in the UK recently can happen any time in Japan. And the top death toll among various JR companies is in JR East which covers East Japan including Tokyo.

The government has adopted deregulation policy: "We need to apply market principal for anything as possible ", "To respect independent decision of railway business owners", and has destroyed the legal measures for safety. JR Co. postpones, relax or cancel the inspection standard and its cycle. As you can see in the case of whistle troubles, managers have ignored the safety regulation and gave orders to train drivers to work under the wireless instruction. Whole the safety measures and even awareness for it is on the verge of collapse.

....DON'T LET THEM CORRUPT TIME TABLE OF SOHBU LINE

Bosses are proposing time shortening on rapid and regular trains at Sohbu line for the next Time Table change on March. It will be up to 6 minutes and 30 seconds shortening between Chiba and Ochanomizu. We have to remember now that fatal accident at Higashi-Nakano in 1989 was triggered by the similar change (at that time, it was 3 minutes and 40 seconds shortening between Chiba and Mitaka). We cannot accept the new massive time shortening. We have to fight 2004 Spring Labour Offensive as the fight against the time table corruption and fight for the safety driving.

Our standpoint can't be clearer. Building safety driving is a core of our union's movement. And actually, this safety problem is their Achilles heel, the biggest week point of JNR's privatization and fragmentation. Fight for safety driving is fight against their new version of attacks on union. Let's do "Go Slow" or walk out and speak out through our direct industrial actions that the safety of railway is really in danger. This fight will give light and hope for struggling workers in JR and all the working people who face the attack and danger of deregulation and subcontracting. Let's rise for Safety Driving Spring Offensive!

....STOP THE 3RD RATIONALIZATION OF CARGO MAINTENANCE!

Another core of safety fight is the fight against massive reorganization of inspection related work. We fought against disband of Narashino train area and started to fight back to the 3rd rationalization of cargo maintenance last year. Now we have to enter the new phase of battle at Makuhari. We have stopped subcontracting so far, and we will stop it again and again!

DORO-CHIBA (DC): National Railway Motive Power Union of CHIBA
http://www.doro-chiba.org
doro-chiba@doro-chiba.org

English page at:
http://www.doro-chiba.org/english/english.htm

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