LABOUR UNREST IN JAPAN

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25555, 24 July 1948, Page 7

LABOUR UNREST IN JAPAN

“No Civil Servant Has Right To Strike” VIEWS OF GENERAL MACARTHUR (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

(Rec. 9.30 p.m.) TOKYO, July 23. General MacArthur to-day sent a letter to the Japanese Prime Minister (Mr Ashida) saying that no Government servant had the right to strike. In the solution of any problem, the paramountcy of the public interest was the foremost consideration.

General MacArthur made it clear that the occupation authorities would stand firmly behind the Government in any efforts to block the Communistinspired labour offensive expected in August.

Officials at General MacArthur’s headquarters recently expressed serious concern about the offensive which, some observers believe, is intended primarily to commit the occupation forces to the use of force against the J apanese. General MacArthur said he believed that inadequacies in the public service law should now be corrected, and that’ the occupation authorities would support the Government in any action it took to revise the law.

No person holding a position by employment or appointment in the public service of Japan should resort to a strike or engage in delaying or other dispute tactics which tended to impair the efficiency of Governmental operations, he continued.

This is interpreted as direct action against the Government unions, which have largely been responsible for Japanese industrial unrest.