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Appeal of Sendai City Office Workers
Appeal of Sendai City Office Workers
bleve21@gmail.com
Dear our friends of the world,
In the northern half of Japan, an increasing number of aged people is still driven to death, and hundreds of thousands of people are suffering for major mental trauma. An in Fukushima prefecture, the disaster caused by the nuclear power plants is aggravating the situation, the many remains are left as they are and the affected area expands day by day.
In these serious situation, The following appeal was issued by municipal workers in Sendai, the biggest city located in the affected area. This is a strong and firmly resolved spirit to be shared by all workers.
Shame on the corrupted leadership of Rengo (Japanese Trade Union Confederation)!!
They are morning; “Rather, the damages caused by rumors inside and outside Japan are aggravating and impeding the life of the people and the industries.”
www.jtuc-rengo.org/updates/index.cgi?mode=view&no=325&dir=2011/04
And also shame on YONEKURA Hiromasa, chairman of Nippon-Keidanren (Japan Business Federation)!!
He again belched disgusting words at the press conferences on April 11; “I recognize that technical capabilities and moral character of TEPCO is the best in the world.”
We are confident that only the solidarity and unity of workers and people are the power to open up our bright future.
No dismissal of million workers under the pretext of the mega earthquake!
By the power of international solidarity, abolish all nuke in the world!
PS:
4 union activists, who were arrested for appealing immediate shutdown of all nuclear power plants on April 6, were released on April 15.
Thank you very much for your every support!
In Struggle and Solidarity,
International labor Solidarity Committee of Doro-Chiba
H. Yamamoto
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Doro-Chiba Quake Report No. 13
Fighting brothers and sisters across the nation and the world!
Revitalize labor union, Unite with the workers in the affected areas, and Let’s fight to live!
Confronting the catastrophe, Let’s establish a new workers’ society by the power of the Nationwide Movement of National Railway Workers’ Struggle!
Fighting brothers and sisters across the nation and the world! Doro-Chiba Support Committee-Sendai City Office, establishing a unity with all workers, farmers, fishermen and self-employed workers in the affected areas, is firmly determined to stand at the forefront of our Nationwide Movement of National Railway Workers’ Struggle to crush Kan administration who intends to completely destroy lives and livelihoods of the people. We call for a struggle of relief activities with a slogan “Let us live!” We take the lead of this struggle with all our might in the affected areas.
The catastrophic crisis caused by the huge earthquake and subsequent disastrous tsunamis on March 11 has thrust us into an unprecedented extraordinary-difficult reality. Even now over a month later, nearly 20,000 people are confirmed dead and over 20,000 people’s whereabouts are unknown. No one can yet get an overall picture of the damage. The victims who have survived but lost their families or colleagues are now fighting day and night to live in the cold rubble-covered wilderness under constant threat of big aftershocks that occur frequently. In the evacuate centers where all basic necessities such as food, water, fuels, electricity and medical care are badly off, the workers are coping with all the hardships and troubles and fighting to live by helping each other.
Many workers of Sendai City Office were affected during work or at their home in recess. There are some who were killed by the catastrophe. Some are still missing. A lot of colleagues lost their families or relatives. The tsunami washed away many of our colleagues’ houses. However, the municipal workers are at the forefront of carrying out relief activities and recovery efforts though some are commuting to work from evacuation centers or houses of their relatives or friends. We have been braving all through these difficult times. Many nights we slept at our work places eating only biscuits in the dark.
The damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is located about 100 km south from Sendai City. The nuclear plant has been repeatedly hit by explosions and is still at a high risk of a meltdown, continuously leaking a large amount of radiation into the air and the sea. Some residents of Minami-souma City have been evacuated to Sendai City. A youth who takes care of his family member using wheelchair told me his anger and anxiety against the nuclear plant and the government. “My house barely escaped the tsunami but was forced to evacuate immediately thereafter. There are cattle farmers who left their cows alone in our hometown. I am afraid that we cannot go back there again.”
When I stood at the very place where the tsunami crushed ashore, I was terribly appalled at the disastrous sight. Buildings and pine groves were all torn down and I could see the Pacific Ocean at the end of the heaps of debris. At first I was completely stunned and then felt strong anger boiling inside of me. “We should resolutely establish a new power for workers to change this society. Workers have the strength to open the bright future!” Then I felt strong energy shift inside of me.
Doro-Chiba Support Committee-Sendai City Office has entered a new stage of our struggle. We are actively working for the People’s Earthquake Relief Center with the workers of various workplaces and community people. We have started to confirm the safety of our workers, distributing basic necessities and so on to support the affected people. Thanks to all friends in Japan and all over the world, we have been able to survive to the present with your warmest support and empathetic bond with Doro-Chiba at the forefront, which started rising up to fight together with us immediately after the disastrous catastrophe.
This is where the real fight begins. We trust in the power of workers’ alignment and the strength of labor union, and strive hard to bring all workers and people together. We shall develop our Nationwide Movement of National Railway Workers’ Struggle thoroughly and widely across the country. We face the neo-liberal attack squarely and establish a new struggle of workers through turning our boiling indignation into an active strength. Let’s establish a close bond with the working class people in the affected areas and rise up together, sharing the same recognition that workers make the society.
At the primary schools which are now used as evacuation centers, education workers and municipal workers are engaged in the running of the centers with other workers and community people. Workers there don’t feel dependent on government’s relief activities. They are united, helping each other, fighting together and overcoming the difficulties. Look at the Kan administration and the executives of the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO)! They are all idle and indifferent to the serious reality and doing completely nothing. None of them takes responsibility but shout at the frontline workers, “Risk your lives!” and they themselves are running away from the sites. Workers strive at the very sites with firm resolve, not running away or escaping from the site, because workers are the masters of society who make it and run it.
Brothers and sisters across the country, the time has come for the Nationwide Movement of National Railway Workers’ Struggle to boldly step out. The Nationwide Movement should become the core of all workers. Let’s fight at the forefront. Now is the time for workers to unite strongly and revitalize labor unions. Organize a labor union fighting for the stoppage of all nuclear plants and against the dismissal of workers. Organize, organize, organize, and fight!
We call upon all workplaces and labor unions to put all power in relief activities for the suffering areas. Let’s gather donation and relief goods!
Stop mass dismissal under the pretext of the huge earthquake! Let’s rise up against dismissal. We demand decent wage to live and survive!
Stop all nuclear plants!
We are absolutely opposed to the dismissal of 3.6 million public workers!
We call on farmers, fishermen and all working people to rally around labor union and unite together now!
April, 2011
Doro-Chiba Support Committee-Sendai City Office
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