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