FEC 48.

Japanese Labour Situation.

Your telegram 160. [1]

We have discussed your suggested proposal with British
Commonwealth colleagues who are pleased that some initiative is
being taken in this problem.

However, mainly in attempt to reduce opportunity for United States
to draw red herrings across the trail, after discussion with
British Commonwealth colleagues we have tentatively re-drafted the
proposal as follows-

'The FEC, bearing in mind that it is a matter for the occupation
authorities in Japan to decide when strikes and other work
stoppages should be prohibited as directly prejudicing the
objectives or needs of the occupation, decides as a matter of
policy that the provisions of FEC 045/5 apply to work[er]s in
Japanese Government enterprises.'

While direct reference to Japanese Public Corporations Labour
Relations Act would in many ways be desirable and give policy much
more force and relevance, any existing Japanese legislation is
strictly speaking not incidental to policy formation. Such
reference gives the United States the opportunity to say we are
dealing with implementation more properly belonging to ACJ [2],
and virtually criticising in a policy decision what SCAP has
already done.

While policy will of course be discussed in the context of the
Japanese P.C.L.R. Act we feel, that for above reasons, it is wiser
not to mention it specifically in the policy.

Insertion of words 'should be prohibited' brings wording more in
line with paragraph 5 of FEC 045/5 and focuses attention on the
central issue.

Substitution of word 'apply' for 'should be applied' makes
proposal more clearly a clarifying policy.

Other re-arrangement is to satisfy personal idiosyncrasies of
other British Commonwealth colleagues and are in view, immaterial.

It is important to get a proposal into the committee tomorrow,
which will be before next FEC meeting, in order to forestall any
further charges by Panyushkin that subject is being buried.

Therefore, subject to your views, we intend to present the re-
drafted version. [3]