It's been 30 years since the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) was created in a grand union of public and private sector labor organizations. Rengo is believed to have played key roles in the change of governments that took place twice since its launch in November 1989 — in 1993 and 2009 — but its political influence plummeted after the Democratic Party of Japan's crushing fall from power in 2012 and the breakup of its successor.
Meanwhile, Rengo's presence in annual wage negotiations has waned with the protracted period of sluggish growth since the 1990s, and it has failed to expand its membership as fewer workers join labor unions. With labor practices going through radical changes, Rengo needs to keep exploring what roles the nation's largest umbrella labor organization can play to achieve its purpose — protecting the interests of workers in general.
Rengo was launched in a merger between the left-leaning General Council of Trade Unions of Japan (Sohyo), comprising public sector labor organizations and affiliated with the then-Japan Socialist Party, and the right-of-center Japanese Confederation of Labor (Domei), made up of private sector labor groups that supported the now-defunct Democratic Socialist Party. It set a target of expanding its membership to 10 million workers from the roughly 8 million when it was launched. However, the number fell to as low as 6.65 million in 2007. This spring, membership topped 7 million for the first time in 17 years — but much of the recovery is attributed to an increase in union members with irregular job statuses.