UNION DELIVERS MESSAGE ON U.S. LABOR LEGISLATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 001217 SIPDIS DOL FOR ILAB/SHEPARD PARIS FOR USOECD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB PGOV JA SUBJECT: UNION DELIVERS MESSAGE ON U.S. LABOR LEGISLATION ¶1. Tomoyasu Kato, President of the All NTT Workers Union of Japan, delivered the following letter and resolution regarding the Employee Free Choice Act to the Embassy May 28. Kato, who is also Vice President of the Japan Trade Union Confederation (RENGO),said he delivered the message in his capacity as an executive member of the Union Network International ("UNI"). ¶2. Text of the letter, addressed to the Charge, is as follows: Dear Mr. James P. Zumwalt I write on behalf of All NTT Workers Union of Japan (NWJ), which represents 175,000 workers in the telecommunications sector throughout Japan, and UNI Apro Telecom, which represents 520,000 telecom workers in Asia Pacific Region. NWJ organizes employees of the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) and its group companies. NWJ is a core affiliated union of Joho-Roren (Japan Federation of Telecommunications, Electronic Information and Allied Workers),which is major subordinate union of JTUC-RENGO. And UNI is a global union federation representing more than 900 unions in the service sector, with more than 20 million members in over 140 countries. The sectors represented by UNI affiliates include telecommunications, and UNI Telecom is the global union for over 2.5 million workers in the information and communication industry worldwide. At our annual meeting on 18 and 19 May 2009, UNI Telecom's affiliates from all over the world resolved to call upon the United States Congress and President Obama to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. Our resolution is enclosed. It is UNI's view, as well as that of our affiliates that the world's wealthiest democracy should join other democracies around the world in respecting the most fundamental of workers' rights. The right to form and join trade unions and to bargain collectively for wages and working conditions is the basis of any fair and just system of labour relations. At the time of the New Deal in the 1930s, the U.S. government acknowledged the value of collective bargaining and its contribution to a healthy economy and society through increasing incomes and buying power. Extensive collective bargaining coverage is directly related to wealth equality, the provision of social benefits such as affordable health care and pensions, and leave entitlements. In the decades since the New Deal, collective bargaining coverage in the U.S. has declined to around 8% in the private sector, and with it, living standards. More than 70 countries throughout the world from Argentina to Uruguay allow workers to gain union rights and collective bargaining through a fair process without employer interference but the U.S. is not one of them. Thousands of workers in the U.S. are fired by their employers every year for trying to exercise their rights. 50% of non-union workers in the U.S. say they want collective bargaining. The Employee Free Choice Act would ensure that workers can make a freely and fairly informed decision about union representation and collective bargaining, as is their right at international law. We want you to let the U.S. government know that unions around the world are united to support and enable American workers to exercise their rights and to have a genuine voice at work, through the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Your sincerely, Tomayasu Kato Executive President, All NTT Workers Union of Japan (NWJ) President, UNI-Apro Telecom ¶3. Following is the text of the attached resolution: TOKYO 00001217 002 OF 002 Resolution Calling for Passage of Employee Free Choice Act Whereas workers in the United States of America ("U.S.") can not exercise their fundamental right to join a union for the purpose of collective bargaining because U.S. law permits employers to campaign against union recognition, and allows employers to require a yes/no ballot where workers must vote against management to gain recognition, Whereas the United Nations guarantees these rights in the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention and the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention. Whereas thousands of workers in the U.S. are fired every year for trying to exercise their rights by employers and tens of thousands more must choose between bargaining rights and their career, Whereas more than 70 countries from Argentina to Uruguay allow workers to gain union rights and collective bargaining through a fair process without employer interference but the U.S. is not one of them, Whereas the U.S. labor movement is calling for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act which would give workers the freedom to join a union and exercise their right to collective bargaining without employer interference, Whereas the global labor movement recognizes that at vibrant and growing U.S.A. labor movement is vital for collective bargaining world wide and that currently U.S. based multinationals including telecoms are exporting union busting to other countries, Therefore, be it resolved that UNI Global Union Telecom on behalf of more than 2.5 million workers world-wide call upon the U.S. Congress and President Obama to pass the Employee Free Choice Act now to guarantee the individual freedom of workers for freedom of association in a global economy. ZUMWALT