| Tomoko Yoshino | |
| Native Name: | 芳野友子 |
| Occupation: | Labor union leader |
| Known For: | President of RENGO |
Tomoko Yoshino (芳野友子) is the first female president of RENGO, Japan's largest labor organization.[1] In her role at RENGO, she has worked to reduce gender gaps in the Japanese workforce.[1]
Yoshino is also one of a council responsible for implementing prime minister Fumio Kishida's trickle-down "new capitalism" economic policies aimed at addressing income inequality.[1] [2] [3] [4]
After high school, Yoshino started working at Juki, a company that makes sewing machines, in 1984.[1] She joined the Japanese Association of Metal, Machinery, and Manufacturing Workers (JAM), a manufacturing union.[1]
In 2015, she became vice president of the labor union federation RENGO and deputy head of JAM.
On 6 October 2021 she was promoted to president of RENGO, making her the first female president in the organization's history and the first RENGO president to come from JAM.[5] She was chosen for a two-year term.[6] According to Yoshino, some of her male colleagues encouraged her not to take the job because "it was too difficult for a woman to handle the job in such a difficult time". However, many women in RENGO supported her promotion as a sign of progress. Yoshino said of her decision to accept the role: "I made up my mind that I should never miss a chance to break the glass ceiling by myself".[7]
In her role as chief of RENGO, Yoshino's goals include improving gender equality and diversity as well as supporting casual workers.[1] [8]