Tokyo, 19 April, /AJMEDIA
The head of Japan’s largest labor organization Rengo attended a meeting Monday of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to discuss social security, a sign that the two sides may be warming up to each other ahead of this summer’s House of Councillors election.
The participation of Tomoko Yoshino in an LDP meeting is quite rare, bolstering the view that the party is seeking to drive a wedge between the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Rengo, a major support base of the main opposition party.
“We would like to work together (with the LDP) to realize policies,” Yoshino told reporters after attending the meeting at the request of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s party. “I think we broadly share issues we perceive as challenges.”
Yoshino explained Rengo’s stance on issues such as workstyles for women and stressed the need for bridging the income gap between men and women.
Yoshino attended the meeting of an LDP panel tasked with discussing issues for an era in which people “live to 100 years.” The panel is headed by former Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa.
With the upper house election in sight, the LDP pledged in its campaign policy for this year that it will promote policy dialogue with “Rengo and other friendly labor unions.”
The party specifically mentioned Rengo, formerly known as the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, a major support base of the CDPJ and the smaller opposition Democratic Party for the People.
In January, Kishida became the first sitting prime minister in nine years to attend Rengo’s New Year gathering.
The prospect of the LDP and Rengo getting closer is a concern for the CDPJ. The unity of the opposition bloc appears shaky as the DPP is perceived as cozying up to the ruling party.
CDPJ leader Kenta Izumi expressed hope on Monday of continuing to work with Rengo so the main opposition can become a viable alternative to the LDP and achieve a “two-party system.”
Wealth distribution, the centerpiece of Kishida’s push for creating a new form of capitalism, apparently resonates with Rengo.
The prime minister has promised to create an environment that prompts companies to raise wages for workers, calling for those whose earnings have recovered to pre-pandemic levels to do so aggressively.
“We want (Rengo) to be careful not to be used by the LDP for its malicious propaganda,” CDPJ policy chief Junya Ogawa said last week, referring to Yoshino’s plan to attend Monday’s meeting.
