1. Rather than focusing budget allocations on fiscal rehabilitation that forces a larger burden on people and reduces benefits, RENGO will call for a transition to a budget that narrows disparities and guarantees people safety and security. In particular, the budget should be allocated as a priority to areas directly linked to people’s lives and in places where it can lead to the creation and stability of high-quality employment to eradicate worries about the future and to achieve self-sustaining economic growth led by domestic demand.

2. With the aim of establishing universal pension and health insurance coverage for all citizens, RENGO will strive for a drastic reform of the social security system. This includes using tax revenues to fund the basic pension and fully applying social insurance to part-time, agency, and fixed-term workers. In order to reconstruct social safety nets, RENGO will seek to restructure the social welfare system, including the establishment of a new livelihood support benefit plan linked to a job assistance program, and the separate payment of housing allowances. RENGO will seek to narrow the health care gap and establish a medical insurance system that provides people with reassurance about their future lives, as well as improve nursing-care services. RENGO will also continue to carry out national campaigns, including the “get-receipt campaign,” linked to a campaign for claiming refunds for medical expenses.

3. RENGO will resist tax increases that have an impact on employment income, and seek to restructure the income redistribution function by changing the preferential treatment given to high income earners and financial income and to correct the inequitable tax system through, for instance, the early introduction of the taxpayer identification number system. In addition, RENGO will seek to narrow differences in financial resources and to financially support decentralization by transferring more tax sources from the central to local governments and reviewing local methods of tax allocation.

4. In addition to efforts to achieve the target of a 6% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions required in the Kyoto Protocol, RENGO will call on the Japanese government to play an active role in developing a framework for the post-Kyoto Protocol, under which China, India and other countries that emit greenhouse gases will participate. In order to control global warming and change the society based on mass production, consumption and waste into a recycling society, RENGO will steadily promote the “RENGO Eco-Life 21” campaign at the workplace and home, the community-based “RENGO Foresting” and “RENGO Archipelago Clean Campaigns,” and a campaign for encouraging the “use of eco bags.”

5. RENGO will propose the creation of a fund, tentatively named the Child Rearing Fund, to reverse the falling birthrate and to realize a work-life balance. It will help reduce the fee for childcare by half and increase the child-support allowance and the childcare leave benefit. RENGO will also recommend ensuring equal educational opportunities by using public funds to finance all compulsory education expenses and creating a public scholarship system that covers living expenses.

6. RENGO will seek the establishment of basic labor rights and labor-management relations for public service personnel and the achievement of a transparent and fair public service system. RENGO will also promote regulatory reform that places emphasis on social regulation, not disorderly deregulation, and the realization of quality public services offered by various providers.

7. RENGO will seek to strengthen comprehensive support for smaller enterprises and local industries, which form the foundation of Japan’s industry. RENGO will work to enhance industry-government-academia-finance-labor partnerships, and to revitalize regional economies through the establishment of councils and the active participation of trade unions.

8. From the perspective of attaining food security, RENGO will work to secure safe food. Efforts in this area include the improvement of food self-sufficiency, the establishment of a food stock system, the introduction and use of a traceability system, and compliance with food-related laws. RENGO will promote people-friendly security and transport policies in a comprehensive way, by planning safe housing and towns, developing disaster prevention systems, and improving working conditions. Local RENGOs and Local Councils will take the initiative in building local safety networks that can protect children. RENGO will also make efforts to quickly give aid to victims of health hazards, including asbestos.

9. RENGO will work to change the current business environment, under which too much importance is given to shareholders’ interests and short-term profits, strengthen its monitoring function as a trade union, and seek to establish corporate social responsibility in Japan. RENGO will seek to establish and publicize a system for protecting whistleblowers, and work toward the ISO26000 standard, which will standardize social responsibility. To establish fair rules for management and the market, RENGO will pursue the proper application and revision of corporate legislation, including the company law and antitrust law, and clarify and publicize the policy to respond to corporate acquisitions by investment funds and others.

10. In partnership with ROFUKUKYO (Association of Workers Welfare), Labor Banks, ZENROSAI (National Federation of Workers and Consumers Insurance Cooperatives), and NPOs, RENGO will work to build a foundation for social solidarity and mutual aid by carrying out independent local welfare projects and establishing Local Councils as bases for the provision of one-stop services.