RENGO explained

RENGO
Location Country:	Japan
Affiliation:	ITUC, TUAC
Members:	6.83 million (2009)
Full Name:	Japanese Trade Union Confederation
Native Name:	日本労働組合総連合会 Nihon Rōdōkumiai Sōrengōkai
Founded:	1989
Headquarters:	Kanda-Surugudai, Tokyo, Japan
Key People:	Tomoko Yoshino, president, Hideyuki Shimizu, general secretary

The, commonly known as, is the largest national trade union center in Japan, with over six million members as of 2011.^[1] It was founded in 1989 as a result of the merger of the Japan Confederation of Labor (Dōmei), the Federation of Independent Unions (Chūritsu Rōren) and the National Federation Of Industrial Organisations (Shinsanbetsu). In 1990, the General Council of Trade Unions of Japan (Sohyo) also joined RENGO.

As of July 2012, RENGO has 54 affiliate unions and 47 local organizations.^[2]

Party affiliation

RENGO was historically affiliated with the Democratic Party of Japan, but on June 28, 2012, president Nobuaki Koga made a speech at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters stating that the confederation may reconsider its future.^[3] ^[4] In 2014, it endorsed LDP-supported candidate Yoichi Masuzoe for the Tokyo gubernatorial election.^[5]

Affiliated organizations

Current affiliates

Many unions are affiliated with RENGO:^[6]

Abbreviation	Union	Founded	Membership (2009)^[7]	Membership (2020)^[8]
UA ZENSEN		2012	1,780,000^[9]	1,767,000
JICHIRO		1954	887,174	785,445
JIDOSHA SOREN		1972	741,747	784,777
DENKI RENGO		1953	616,571	569,285
JAM		1999	370,256	341,681
KIKAN ROREN		2003	248,781	265,130
JPGU		2007	216,186	243,754
SEIHO ROREN		1969	241,967	233,614
NIKKYOSO		1947	290,857	230,475
DENRYOKU SOREN		1981	214,019	208,996
ICTJ		1991	220,730	199,135
UNYU ROREN		1968	128,407	128,095
SHITETSU SOREN		1947	111,944	113,253
JFU		2000	97,762	105,909
JEC RENGO		2002	158,958	104,038
SONPO ROREN		1967	68,027	94,696
KOKKO RENGO		2001	110,766	79,621
JR RENGO		1992	63,000	74,602
SERVICE RENGO		2001	44,029	47,454
KOTSU-ROREN		1964	53,835	45,579
KAIIN KUMIAI		1945	45,000	45,000
KOKU RENGO		1999	36,183	41,419
GOMU RENGO		1992	43,481	41,023
KAMIPA RENGO		1988	30,713	25,453
ZEN DENSEN		1946	28,205	24,757
ZENKOKU GAS		1946	25,676	23,248
JR SOREN		1987	55,046	22,561
INSATSU ROREN		1989	20,667	20,730
CERAMICS RENGO		1995	18,900	19,610
ZEN SUIDO		1951	25,998	16,281
ZENGIN RENGO		1967	15,590	15,008
ZENKOKU-NODANRO		1989	15,446	13,725
MEDIA ROREN		2017	N/A	9,577
ZENJIKO ROREN		1947	35,285	9,515
ZEN ROKIN	Federation of Labour Bank Workers' Unions of Japan	1956	6,397	8,871
HEALTH CARE ROKYO	Japanese Health Care Workers' Union	2002	7,777	8,500
SINRIN ROREN		1989	8,295	5,362
ROSAI ROREN	Federation of ZENROSAI Trade Unions		3,378	4,296
ROKYO ROREN	Confederation of Labour Supply Trade Unions		3,860	4,228
ZEN INSATSU		1947	4,568	4,060
JICHI ROREN	National Federation of Prefectural and Municipal Workers' Unions	1970	3,302	2,970
ZENKOKU UNION	Japan Community Workers Union Federation	2002	3,350	2,800
ZENKOKU KEIBA RENGO	National Federation of Horse-racing Workers		3,032	2,599
JA RENGO	All Japan Agriculture Cooperative Staff Members' Union		1,296	1,354
KOUN-DOMEI	Japanese Confederation of Port and Transport Workers' Unions	1987	1,200	1,200
ZEN ZOHEI	All Mint Labour Union		995	766

Observer affiliate:

DOKIRO Hokkaido Seasonal Workers' Union (2,660 members as of 2009)

Friendly affiliate:

NIKKENKYO Council of Japan Construction Industry Employee's Unions (35,624 members as of 2009)

Former affiliates

Abbreviation	Union	Founded	Left	Reason not affiliated	Membership (1996)^[10]
ZENSEN		1946	2002	Merged into UI ZENSEN	577,362
ZENKIN RENGO		1958	1999	Merged into JAM	314,693
CSG RENGO		1995	2002	Merged into UI ZENSEN	237,474
KINZOKU RENGO		1989	1999	Merged into JAM	200,000
TEKKO ROREN		1951	2003	Merged into JBU	193,472
ZENTEI		1946	2007	Merged into JPGU	158,691
ZOSENJUKI ROREN		1972	2003	Merged into JBU	133,407
SHOGYO ROREN		1970	2001	Merged into JSD	129,043
SHOKUHIN RENGO		1995	2000	Merged into JFU	116,747
GOKA ROREN		1950	1998	Merged into KAGAKU LEAGUE	91,242
ZEN YUSAI		1965	2007	Merged into JPGU	77,718
KAGAKU SOREN		1978	2016	Disaffiliated	67,629
ZENKOKU IPPAN		1955	2006	Merged into JICHIRO	60,096
LEISURE SERVICE RENGO		1970	2001	Merged into SERVICE RENGO	46,900
TOSHIKO		1947	2013	Merged into JICHIRO	43,767
KOKKO SOREN		1989	2001	Merged into KOKKO RENGO	43,697
CHAIN RENGO		1970	2001	Merged into JSD	40,944
KOKUZEI ROSO		1958	2001	Merged into KOKKO RENGO	40,128
SEIROREN		1960	2001	Merged into KOKKO RENGO	33,392
SEKIYU ROREN		1947	2002	Merged into JEC	29,505
HITETSU RENGO		1964	2003	Merged into JBU	23,500
SHOKUHIN ROKYO		1989	2000	Merged into JFU	21,826
KOKU DOMEI		1974	1999	Merged into KOKO RENGO	15,178
ZENCHURO		1946	2001	Merged into KOKKO RENGO	14,314
KENSETSU RENGO		1990	2014	Merged into JBU	13,413
NHK ROREN		1988	2017	Merged into MEDIA ROREN	11,584
ZENKOKU KAGAKU		1987	1998	Merged into KAGAKU LEAGUE	10,540
SHINKAGAKU		1958	2002	Merged into JEC	8,313
ZENROKIN	Federation of Labor Bank Workers' Unions of Japan				7,617
ZENKOKU SEMENTO		1947	2002	Merged into JEC	7,263
ZEIKAN ROREN	Federation of Japanese Customs Personnel Labour Unions	1965	2001	Merged into KOKKO RENGO	5,524
SEN-I SEIKATSU ROREN		1948	2002	Merged into UI ZENSEN	5,127
SHIN UNTEN	FIO-Drivers' Craft Union	1959			4,435
ZENZOSEN-KIKAI		1946	2016	Dissolved	3,226
ZENKAIREN	All Japan Shipping Labor Union	1947			2,750
JIUNRO	Japan Automobile Drivers' Union	1958			2,109
NICHIRINRO		1965	2006	Merged into SINRIN ROREN	2,020
ZENTANKO		1952			1,750
TANRO		1950	2004	Dissolved	1,460
ZEN-EIEN	National Cinema and Theater Workers' Union	1947	2017	Merged into MEDIA ROREN	473
TOKEI ROSO	Statistics Labor Union-management and Coordination Agency	1962	2005	Dissolved	200
ZENSHIN ROREN	All Japan Community Bank Labour Union Association	1961	2018	Disaffiliated	N/A
SHOKUHIN ROREN		1965	1995	Merged into SHOKUHIN RENGO	N/A
HITETSU KINZOKU ROREN	All Japan Federation of Non-Ferrous Metal Workers' Unions	1982		Merged into HITETSU ROREN	N/A
KENSETSU DOMEI		1978	1990	Merged into KENSETSU RENGO	N/A
JSD		2001	2012	Merged into UA ZENSEN	N/A
UI ZENSEN		2002	2012	Merged into UA ZENSEN	N/A
ZENKA DOMEI		1951	1995	Merged into CSG RENGO	N/A
KAGAKU LEAGUE		1998	2002	Merged into JEC	N/A
ZENTABAKO		1985	1995	Merged into SHOKUHIN RENGO	N/A
ZENDENRYOKU	National Council of Japanese Electric Powers Workers	1965	1996	Merged into DENRYOKU SOREN	N/A
ZENYOREN		1949	1995	Merged into CERAMICS RENGO	N/A
ZEN SHOKUHIN DOMEI		1947	1995	Merged into SHOKUHIN RENGO	N/A
IPPAN DOMEI		1966	1995	Merged into CSG RENGO	N/A
GOMU ROREN		1965	1992	Merged into GOMU RENGO	N/A

Local organizations

RENGO also has local organizations for each of Japan's 47 prefectures.

Leadership

General secretaries

Seigo Yamada (1989–1993)
Etsuya Washio (1993–1997)
Kiyoshi Sasamori (1997–2001)
Hiroyuki Nagumo (2001–2013)
Rikio Kozu (2013–2015)
Naoto Omi (2015–2017)
Yasunobu Aihara (2017–2021)
Hideyuki Shimizu (2021—present)

Presidents

Akira Yamagishi (1989–1995)
Jinnosuke Ashida (1995–1997)
Etsuya Washio (1997–2001)
Kiyoshi Sasamori (2001–2005)
Tsuyoshi Takagi (2005–2009)
Nobuaki Koga (2009–2015)
Rikio Kozu (2015–2021)
Tomoko Yoshino (2021—present)

References

Sources

Rengo website
Book: 2005 . Trade Unions of the World . ICTUR . International Centre for Trade Union Rights . etal . 6th . John Harper Publishing . London, UK . 0-9543811-5-7.

External links

Japanese Trade Union Confederation

Notes and References

Rengo website Rengo brochure 2010-2011 Retrieved on July 6, 2012
Rengo website Role and Function Retrieved on July 6, 2012
The Daily Yomiuri Rengo may rethink support for DPJ Retrieved on July 4, 2012
The Japan Times Labor leader hints at cooler DPJ ties Retrieved on July 4, 2012
News: 舛添氏と連合東京が協定都知事選、細川氏は小泉氏側と詰め. 21 January 2014. 日本経済新聞. 21 January 2014.
Rengo website Affiliates Retrieved on July 6, 2012
Web site: RENGO 2010 2011 . ILO . 18 November 2021.
Web site: RENGO 2020-2021 . RENGO . 18 November 2021.
Combined membership of predecessor unions as of 2009
Web site: List of RENGO affiliated union members . Cross Currents . 18 November 2021.