The Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) urged the government Monday to make good on its promised tax reductions, including 4 trillion yen in income tax cuts.
During a meeting with Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and other key Cabinet members, Rengo President Etsuya Washio also asked the prime minister to quickly restore stability to the nation's ailing financial system and to implement measures to create new jobs and improve the overall employment rate, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka told a news conference.
In his inaugural policy speech before the Diet, Obuchi promised to implement 4 trillion yen worth in income tax cuts starting in January and reduce effective corporate tax rates from the current 46.63 percent to around 40 percent starting in April.
The prime minister, however, has not created a plan to carry out his pledge, leaving taxpayers wondering how much they will be paying next year.
During the meeting, Obuchi said he would make specific decisions based on internal discussions with the government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
He was also quoted as saying he will give "maximum consideration" to the state of the economy in implementing the tax cuts. He also expressed his readiness to cooperate with opposition parties and revise the six financial bills proposed by the government and the LDP.
Rengo, which supports the Democratic Party of Japan, has recently given its conditional approval to the injection of public funds into the ailing Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan.
Although the nation's jobless rate has recovered slightly from the record high of 4.3 percent marked in June, the situation remains severe.