RENGO, the largest national center of labor unions in Japan, was formed in 1987.
RENGO was founded by a compromise between the General Council of Trade Unions (Sohyo) and the Alliance for Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), but the basic concepts of the two organizations are completely different.
The parties supported by the Sohyo were the Japan Socialist Party and the Alliance was the Democratic Socialist Party.
The RENGO should have decided on its basic political stance at the time of its formation, but because priority was given to creating a single organization as a national center, the line has not been solidified to this day.
The political realignment created the DPJ to face the LDP, and the Coalition became united in its support of the DPJ. The DPJ subsequently split into the left-wing Constitutional Democratic Party and the center-right National Democratic Party. In a similar fashion, the former Sohyo-affiliated industrial trade unions favored the Rikken Democratic Party, while the Rengo-affiliated industrial trade unions favored the Kokumin Dōdō.
This election for the House of Councillors was also fought with its own candidates.
The votes received by the candidates within the industrial trade union organizations are as follows
。
| Constitutional Democratic Party | 総数 5,202,304 | National Democratic Party | 総数 2,234,257 |
| Supporting Organizations | 得票数 | Supporting Organizations | 得票数 |
| All-Japan Local Government Workers Union | 171,619 | Federation of Electric Power Workers Unions of Japan | 238,956 |
| Japan Educational Exchanges and Services Union | 144,344 | General Federation of Trade Unions of Japan | 234,744 |
| JP labor union | 127,382 | UA Zensen | 211,783 |
| Federation of Trade Unions of Japan | 125,340 | electric company union | 169,929 |
In response to the results, RENGO Chairman Yoshino mentioned that the candidate from the Electric Coalition failed to win the election despite receiving 169,000 votes, and said at a press conference that it was unfortunate that he failed to win the election even though he received more votes than the winning candidate from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
However, the policies of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and the People's Democratic Party of Japan (KDP) are completely different, so it would be impossible for them to form a large mass no matter how much the RENGO lobbies. Rather, it would be better for the RENGO to clarify its political stance and take a policy-by-policy approach.
Still, we are surprised at the low number of votes received by candidates from the All-Japan Autonomous Trade Union and the Japan Teachers Association. In the past, the number of votes received by candidates affiliated with the General Council of Trade Unions was very high. This is probably due to the weakening of the power of their organizations.
