Japan Post unions may be merged under privatized firm

The two labor unions of Japan Post may be integrated into a 230,000-strong union by the time the public corporation is privatized starting in October 2007, a union leader said Wednesday.

All Japan Postal Labor Union Chairman Akira Miyashita told a meeting of the 87,000-member union’s central committee that the union will consider its integration with the 140,000-member Japan Postal Workers’ Union to increase their bargaining power.

The All Japan Postal Labor Union spun off in 1965 from the Japan Postal Workers’ Union, which was founded in 1946.

Japan Post employees will shift from the public sector to the private one when Japan Post is split into four companies under a holding company for the privatization.