The is a Japanese

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

, which is usually referred to as in Japanese.

History

The union was founded on 2 February 1987, with the merger of the

National Railway Locomotive Engineers' Union The was a Japanese trade union, which was usually referred to as Dōrō (動労) in Japanese. History Foundation to 1980 Dōrō (National Railway Locomotive Engineers' Union) split from the National Railway Workers' Union (Kokuro) in 1951. It w ...

(Doro) and the

Japan Railway Workers' Union The Japan Railway Workers' Union (, Tetsuro) was a trade union representing workers on the Japanese National Railways (JNR). The union was founded on 20 October 1968, with the merger of the various affiliates of the Japanese Federation of Nation ...

(Tetsuro). The merger was in response to the privatisation of

Japanese National Railways The , abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pre ...

, of which both unions were broadly supportive. It affiliated to the

Japanese Trade Union Confederation Rengo is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune located in the Zona Central, Chile, Zona Central of Chile, situated in the Cachapoal Province of the O'Higgins Region at a distance of south of the city of Rancagua and sout ...

. In 1992, many former Tetsuro members split away, in protest at the union considering the possibility of strikes, and formed the rival

Japan Railway Trade Unions Confederation The Japan Railway Trade Unions Confederation (JRTU; , JR Rengo) is a trade union representing workers at the Japan Railways Group. The union was founded on 18 May 1992 by former members of the Japan Railway Workers' Union who left the recently fo ...

. In 1996, the union had 70,710 members, but by 2020, this had fallen to only 22,561. In 2010, a complaint was lodged in the Diet that JR-Soren was being financially controlled by the

Japan Revolutionary Communist League (Revolutionary Marxist Faction) The Japan Revolutionary Communist League (Revolutionary Marxist Faction) () is a Japanese Trotskyism, Trotskyist revolutionary group, often referred to by the abbreviation Kakumaru-ha (). It is classified as Far-left politics, far-left. History ...

. JR-Soren denied the charges. The charge was repeated by

Kansei Nakano is a retired Japanese politician. He was a member of the Democratic Party of Japan and served as the Vice-Speaker of the Lower House of the Diet. Nakano was born in 1940 in Nagasaki. At age four, he experienced the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. I ...

and confirmed by several weekly magazines.

Composition

JR-Soren consists of 11 unions and has 62,300 members.JR Soren websit
"What is JRU?"
Retrieved on August 11, 2012

Overseas activities

JR-Soren has assisted with construction of elementary schools in China, and in 2002, established an office in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

to support the people of Afghanistan.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Railway unions in Japan 1987 establishments in Japan Trade unions established in 1987