Postal workers plan largest union

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. (Kyodo) Two post office workers' unions have agreed to merge and form Japan's largest labor union, with 220,000 members, after Japan Post is privatized on Oct. 1.

The 136,000-strong Japan Postal Workers' Union voted for the plan at its national convention Thursday in Naha. The 84,000-strong All Japan Postal Labor Union approved the merger on June 15.

Each of the two unions will finalize the merger at extraordinary meetings and form the Japan Postal Group Union on Oct. 22. The new union will eclipse the All NTT Workers Union of Japan, which is currently the largest, with 180,000 members.

The two postal unions were formerly longtime rivals, but they cooperated on opposing the privatization of Japan Post when the plan was being debated in the Diet in 2005.

After the privatization legislation was enacted that year, the two unions began considering a merger to increase their bargaining power.

While Japan Post is set to break up into four firms and a holding company after privatization, the new Japan Postal Group Union will refrain from dividing itself into company-by-company unions.