Time:
2010 Sep 03 15:00 - 16:00

Language:
The speech and Q & A in English and Japanese with English interpretation

Summary:
PRESS CONFERENCE
Nobuaki Koga,
President, Japanese Trade Union Confederation,
Sharan Burrow,
General Secretary, The International Trade Union Confederation

Description:
Confronted with a protracted economic slowdown, labor unions in the Asia-Pacific region are joining forces to urge governments to facilitate economic recovery and create more jobs.

Nobuaki Koga, president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), Japan's largest labor organization, and Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union, will come to the club to explain the outcome of a two-day meeting of the ITUC Asia Pacific Labour Network in Tokyo.

The meeting will urge APEC leaders to initiate effective steps to respond to the global economic and financial crisis, endorse the establishment of an APEC Labour Forum, and tackle climate change and global warming in an ambitious and comprehensive manner ahead of the APEC summit in Yokohama on Nov. 13-14.

Koga became Rengo general secretary in 2005 after serving as chief of the labor union of Panasonic Corp., then called Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., and head of the Japanese Electrical Electronic & Information Union. He was appointed Rengo president last October for a two-year term. As a traditional supporter of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, Rengo is also closely watching the upcoming DPJ presidential election.

A former teacher, Burrow of Australia was vice president of Education International in 1995-2000 and became president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions in 2000. In 2006, she became the first President of the new ITUC founded in Vienna and was elected as general secretary of ITUC in June this year.

Members planning to attend this press conference are asked to reserve in advance, online (http://www.fccj.or.jp - please log in to reserve) or at the Front Desk (3211-3161), so that the staff can make appropriate
preparations. It's free of charge.

Professional Activities Committee