Postal Bills Pass Lower House: Administrative and Financial Reform to Be Next Phase
On October 10, following the
landslide victory of the Liberal Democratic Party in the general election,
the postal privatization bills which had triggered dissolution of the
House of Representatives and the subsequent general election, were passed
smoothly by a plenary session of the House of Councilors. Most of the
LDP lawmakers who joined the opposition camp in the ordinary session before
the election now voted for the legislation on the grounds that, in the
light of the results of the election, there was no advantage in continuing
to oppose it. Bills which the Democratic Party of Japan hastily submitted
to the Diet ahead of the voting, as a gesture of the opposition to the
government bills, were turned down too soon for the public to show interest.
Following approval of the bills, the state-run business, which has existed
for over 130 years, will be privatized. In two years' time (October 2007),
Japan Post will be divided into four entities, overseeing mail postal
services, savings, insurance and over-the-counter services, respectively,
and the privatization process will be completed in 2017. In this way,
the postal privatization, which has been regarded as the immediate, priority
task among Prime Minister Koizumi's administrative and financial reforms,
has seen the prospect of settlement.
Nevertheless, although a rough road map for privatization of the giant
postal service has been laid down, with the current balance of postal
savings and insurance standing at some 325 trillion yen, one wonders how
successfully the development of the detailed mechanism of privatization
will proceed.
As for the approximately 260,000 staff members of Japan Post, their wages
and treatment, as employees of private firms, will change drastically
since they will no longer be protected under the National Civil Service
Law, which prohibits demotion, suspension, against their own wishes.
The simple pursuit of efficiency will not bring about a privatization
that truly benefits the public. The views of the postal workers involved
should be reflected in the privatization process. The labor unions of
Japan Post, with a total membership of over 220,000, has also determined
to develop processes for incorporating atypical workers who will undoubtedly
join the newly privatized firms, and to construct new labor-management
relations.