They define the aim of founding our institute in the gProspectuses for thefoundation of the Japan Research Institute of Labor Movement" adopted by the above promoters' general meeting. It says:
gJapan's labor movement is now at a crucial turning point. Due to the contradictions between postwar Japanese capitalism and the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty system coming to the fore, the Liberal Democratic Party government, whichhad lasted for many years, has now become more shaky than ever. Under such circumstances a new national center of the trade union movement, the National Confederation of Trade Unions, was set up. At national, industrial and local levels, they have tried for a full-scale build-up of the labor movement, which has just started to make strides forward.h
gThe ruling classes will never sit idly and let the labor movement go advancing. The business circles, LDP government, Rengo (Japanese Trade Union Confederation) and other forces will pull themselves together, try every means and mobilize all social forces to counter our movement. We should never make light of their full-scale attack on our movement, organization and ideology.h
@@gHowever, the advancement of Japan's labor movement today is inevitable. Most of the Japanese people have now become aware that LDP politics threat to the very basis of the livelihood and rights of workers and the people. Rengo has taken over all the existing national centers. Under this situation, the National Confederation of Trade Unions, a newborn national center, will be the one and only center for themass labor movement. That can defend workers' and the people's life and rights, in defiance of the politics carried forward by monopoly capital. Further, the key players of the new movement are workers and trade unions, who have achieved solid progress by countering intensive attacks launched by reactionary forces. They are the original current that succeeds the positive tradition of Japan's labor movement.h
gAside it, today's social conditions concerning the labor movement are greatly changing both at home and internationally. Workers and trade unions are facing such structural changes of society as egrowing importance of information,f eeconomy giving more preference to service,f einternationalization,f eagin population.f They confront them while with unprecedented attacks of estreamlining,f carried out by the government in its policy such as eeconomicstructural adjustmentf and eadministrative reform.f The main opponents of the trade union movement are gigantic enterprises that have now become multinationals. Those gigantic enterprises cooperate and maintain cozy relationship with U.S. monopoly capital. They are using their advance abroad and increasing export to force workers both in Japan and in other developed or developing countries, to compete with each other. This makes them thus leveling down their working and living conditions. The labor movement today must march forward, while dealing appropriately with these changes and the tasks for the movement arising from such changes. Nevertheless, the road will hardly be an easy one to follow.h
gIn such a situation as described above, it is an urgent demand today to set up a research institute that can meet the necessity of the labor movement, and can also give theoretical, practical assistance to the progress of the movement. The purpose of our institute is to promote research and policymaking activities that can make positive contribution to the development of the movement, in close communicationand relationship with a new national center, National Confederation of Trade Unions.It also aims to offer opportunities for cooperation and united efforts to democratic researchers and investigation groups working all over the country in different fields relating to the labor movement.h
gThe initiatives of groups and individuals establish this institute as a joint enterprise that pursue these goals.h
In case of setting up a new gproject team" or gstudy section" to meet thedemand arising from the situation, it will be discussed and decided by the institute's standing board of directors.
The following is the project teams and study sections actually at work:
gRodo-Soken Quarterly" aims to respond the need of the trade union movement. For this purpose, every quarterly carries on its opening page an essay on such questions as current trends concerning political and economic situation, and theessay will be followed by some articles on moves related to the trade union movement both at home and abroad, a special feature composed of three or four treatises focused on important tasks of the movement, and comments and review ofbooks or documents.
gRodo-Soken Journal" is sent to researchers, universities, national centers of trade union movements and industrial trade unions in other countries, to promotemutual exchange of materials and information with them.
2) To distribute them in society, the result of the study carried out by gproject teams" and gstudy sections on individual issues" have been published in more than ten books in Japanese so far.