December 9, 1999

Kiyoshi SASAMORI
General Secretary
Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC-RENGO)

The bill is not concrete though it states the promotion in supplying rented houses of good quality. Thus, Rengo has requested a careful discussion.

However, it is regrettable that the bill was passed with a little revision in spite of Rengo's request.

There are some points that could be highly evaluated, including the revision that annuls a special rule requiring leaseholders to deliver a written document for renewing the contract. But this measure is only applied to those who currently live in the rented houses. It should be pointed out that the bill creates a new problem that it may be possible to repeat a short-term lease contact and cancel the contract without notice.

Regardless of having possibility of careful consideration at the Legislation Commission, the government enacted the special measure law to rule out the review after 4 years, the date for enforcement on 1 March 2000 and other things that reveal the insufficient discussion and the hastiness.

Watching the future action carefully, Rengo shall make the best effort to go on required reconsideration under the national consensus.