Английская Википедия:February 1 General Strike (1947)

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Шаблон:Short description

Файл:Yashiro Ii.JPG
Yashiro Ii explaining the reasons of the cancellation of the February 1 General Strike under preparation

The Шаблон:Nihongo was a general strike planned by Japanese labor unions for February 1, 1947, with the goal of fighting for the implementation of the ten demands proposed in last December, including the abolition of the income tax. The strike was eventually stopped by order of SCAP.

Background

The Empire of Japan was defeated in World War II and was occupied by Allies of World War II. The occupation authorities, known as SCAP (Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers) or GHQ (General Headquarters), initially introduced a series of reforms in Japan, such as the release of a large number of political prisoners and support for left-wing forces and workers, which led to a resurgence of the workers' movement in Japan.Шаблон:Sfnm Both left-wing parties and Japanese labor unions, once banned, have been unbanned and are growing rapidly.Шаблон:Sfnm By the end of November, nearly five million workers joined the labor unions.Шаблон:Sfnm

Japanese workers began a wave of strikes, led by the Japanese Communist Party, left-wing socialists, and labor organizations.Шаблон:Sfnm Some of these strikes were intended to improve working conditions and protect workers' rights, but others were aimed at changing or even completely overhauling the political system of the country.Шаблон:Sfnm Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida underlined that both capitalists and workers were collaborating for the common goal of boosting output in May 1946, accusing the radical labor movement of exploiting democracy.Шаблон:Sfn The Cabinet's Imperial Ordinance No. 311, which mandates fines and hard prison sentences of up to 10 years for participating in "acts prejudicial to Occupation objectives," was the first step in SCAP's response, which was swiftly followed by the employment of police enforcement.Шаблон:Sfn Nevertheless, strike activity persisted on a number of fronts, and some of them were successful, such as the strike in September 1946, which was carried out with MacArthur's consent and had some success.Шаблон:Sfn Yoshida, however, denounced the second strike in October, and the ensuing dispute ultimately forced MacArthur to entirely alter his attitude.Шаблон:Sfn The Japanese emperor and MacArthur both agreed that the labor movement may be extremely susceptible to manipulation by political rivals in the same month.Шаблон:Sfn

On December 3, Japan's labor unions submitted ten demands to the government, including the provision of overtime pay, the establishment of a minimum wage system, the abolition of work income tax, and the raising of the tax exemption point for comprehensive income tax to 30,000 yen. However, except for the overtime pay, the government refused to accept these demands. On December 17, 500,000 people (according to the organizers), organized by the Japanese Federation of Labour, the Sanbetsu, and other national unions, participated in a national convention to secure livelihood rights and overthrow the Yoshida Cabinet at the Imperial Palace Plaza.Шаблон:Sfnm

On December 6, 1946, the Far Eastern Commission, which was responsible for overseeing Japan during the occupation, set out the principles that Japanese trade unions needed to follow. The rights of Japanese workers were guaranteed in this principle, but at the same time, Japanese workers were forbidden to "directly interfere with the interests of the occupation".Шаблон:Sfnm

Detail

In the New Year's speech on January 1, 1947, Shigeru Yoshida attacked the labor movement and accused labor groups of being Шаблон:Nihongo, an act that made the situation even tenser.Шаблон:Sfnm On January 15,Шаблон:Efn the National Labor Union Joint Struggle Committee consisting of 30 unions, including the Japanese Federation of Labour and the Sanbetsu, with 4 million members, was organized.Шаблон:Sfnm Three days later, the National Labor Union Joint Struggle Committee issued an ultimatum demanding that the government must meet the ten demands made in December 1946 by February 1, or else it would launch a national strike.Шаблон:Sfnm The Japanese Communist Party also tried to mobilize as many unions as possible that were not members of the National Labor Union Joint Struggle Committee to participate in the strike.Шаблон:Sfn

On January 15, the government made a partial concession and Shigeru Yoshida publicly apologized for his comments on January 1.Шаблон:Sfn Shortly after the ultimatum was issued, Labor division's Cohen sent a letter to Economic and Scientific Section's General Marquet, warning him that the unions were organizing a strike and advising him to ask SCAP to force an end to the strike. SCAP rejected the request and argued that an informal verbal warning would have been sufficient to dissuade union leaders.Шаблон:Sfn On January 22, the government again conceded to a 150 yen salary increase for government employees.Шаблон:Sfn On the same day, Marquet and Cohen conveyed SCAP's order to "advise" union leaders not to strike.Шаблон:Sfnm Union leaders, on the other hand, believed that SCAP will not violate the labor laws they have just enacted.Шаблон:Sfn About 2,400,000 workers from various industries were ready to join the strike.Шаблон:Sfn On the afternoon of January 31, MacArthur officially issued a handwritten strike injunction, which read:

Шаблон:Quotation

At 8:00 p.m. that night, labor leader Yashiro Ii made a speech on NHK, tearfully announcing the official cancellation of the general strike on February 1. He quoted Lenin, saying that the cancellation was "one step back, two steps forward".Шаблон:Sfnm

Aftermath

Some militant labor leaders accused the U.S. of intervening in the Japanese workers' movement after the strike was called off, criticizing MacArthur's strike ban as "oppressive, undemocratic, and discriminatory against labor".Шаблон:Sfn

The general strike not only represented MacArthur's violation of the laws he had signed, but also allowed the moderate right-wing Socialist Party to accuse the left of being too radical and to gain more power.Шаблон:Sfnm Since MacArthur only banned the strike, the unions in the strike gained more and more members afterwards.Шаблон:Sfn

Notes

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References

Citations

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