The so-called global standards, which are based on neoliberalism and the market principle, are beginning to take root throughout the world.  Also in Japan, companies are trying to survive the growing global competition by sharply increasing atypical employment at the sacrifice of regular employment opportunities for working people.  The economy may look recovered through market mechanisms for a while, but our society has polarized into rich and poor and the gap is expanding.  In fact, the "working poor," as the poorest working people are often referred to, are increasing.  Most of them are atypical employees.  They have not even been organised by trade unions until recently.  If the trade union movement should ignore them, however, the bipolarised society could never be corrected.  The national centre, Rengo, has developed a sense of crisis about this situation and decided to take up the challenge of organising atypical employees as one of its most important tasks.

Another major issue throughout the world today is the rampancy of private equity funds or the investment groups that buy companies for the sole purpose of making short-term profits.  Companies are workplaces for the people in them.  Companies are social entities that interact with suppliers, customers and local communities.  They should not be used as a tool for some shareholders to make money.

To cope with such a global flow of capital, as well as the globalisation of the market principle, the trade unions need to have global activities.  Through Union Network International (UNI), JSD is sharing information with other unions to carry out concerted efforts on a global scale.

UNI has decided to hold its third World Congress in Nagasaki in 2010.  When Japan was isolated from the world between the 17th and 19th century, Nagasaki was the only window of Japan that was kept open.  As a town hit by an atomic bomb, Nagasaki also keeps sending out messages of peace to the world.  It is not a large city like Tokyo, but from this town I would like to spread our values of human dignity, cultural diversity and peace.  Global capital flow is likely to quicken its pace in years to come.  I hope the Nagasaki Congress will provide us an opportunity to identify goals for global unions such as ours that place importance on the social aspect, rather than the market efficiency, of the economy and start creating "decent work" for the respect of human dignity.