Solidarity Message from Japanese Railway Workers to Turkish Metal Workers

Brothers and sisters, fighting metal workers and workers of UID-DER,

We send you a heartfelt message of international solidarity to support metal workers, including cooperating workers, who stand up for organizing an independent union by overthrowing the fascist union’s bondage.

Doro-Chiba has experienced similar struggle as yours. In 1970’s, before leaving and becoming independent from Doro (National Railway Motive Power Union) headquarters and acting as District Chiba of Doro, we experienced two major important struggles.

First, the workplace struggle for safety of train operation, which was threatened by rationalization and workforce reduction.

Second, the solidarity with Sanrizuka struggle (the farmers’ battle against the construction of Narita Airport), which is no doubt a major farmers’ struggle against state power in the post war history of Japan, via stopping jet fuel transport by freight cars.

In the course of the fierce developments the Doro Headquarters rapidly changed its stance and finally ended in corruption presenting the following policy in the union convention: abandonment of strike and discontinuance of solidarity with Sanrizuka struggle. Successively, the Doro Headquarters took outrageous measures: they suspended the right of execution and membership of all the executive members of District Chiba, who fought uncompromisingly for rail safety and for solidarity with famers.

In 1979, these developments made us decide to leave Doro headquarters and to be independent. Thus Doro-Chiba was born in that year. Severe days of struggles ensued for nearly two years to defend the unity of newly born Doro-Ciba from repeated violent assaults by Doro Headquarters on the workplaces of the members of Doro-Chiba.

This struggle has laid foundation of the National Railways struggle to confront with the Division and Privatization of National Railways which began in 1980’s, and to keep standing at the forefront of the campaign against the ongoing privatization, outsourcing, constitutional revision and war drive of the current Abe administration.

We think that the major source of the workers’ power which smashed the onslaught of Renault and forced them withdraw the dismissal is the solidarity in workplaces based on full confidence in workplace colleagues with clear perception of workers’ enemy.

Though we are separated each other by the vast ocean, our heart is with you who are standing up for the creation of a new union and dismantling the Turk Metal, fascist union.

For a victory of Turkish metal workers’ big strike!

Withdraw dismissal of 1047 Japanese National Railway workers!

Let’s wage a general strike in international solidarity and crush neoliberalism in its death agony!

International Labor Solidarity Committee of Doro-Chiba

General Secretary

H. Yamamoto