6th Youth Forum Held
(2 oct 2003)
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| Photo: Young leaders gather from all over the nation. (September 27, Tokyo.) |
After Chair Kaneko, President Sasamori addressed the audience saying that “it is important to build RENGO to be a reliable, anchor for workers when they are really in need. We do not need mere words or slogans, but real opinions. We need to develop movements that bring progress even if only in steps.” Sharing his anticipation with the audience he continued “to do so, it is crucial that we have young people’s energy in the movements.”
Following that, the keynote address on “Labor Union; Its Results and Issues” was given by University of Tokyo Institute of Social Science, Division of Comparative Contemporary Societies Professor Keisuke Nakamura. In his speech, Professor Nakamura stressed that one of the functions of labor unions is “securing democracy in the workplace“ in addition to “maintaining and improving labor conditions” which are of critical importance in preventing disorder in the workplace.” He also talked about some of the results gained by the power of labor unions’ statements and labor-management discussions using actual empirical data. He raised new issues including downsizing at profit-making enterprises and unpaid overwork, finishing his speech with a question to the audience: “isn’t the role of labor unions whose goal is to represent workers to put their foot down in such hard times?”
There were three separate open opinion forum meetings on “RENGO,” “Our Future Way of Work,” and “The Role of the Youth in Labor Unions,” and participants pledged to revitalize labor union activities through youth activities.
