Japan's largest labor organization gets female president for 1st time

TOKYO

A woman was elected for the first time as head of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), Japan's largest labor organization, on Wednesday.

Tomoko Yoshino, the vice president of Rengo, was elected president of the organization at its regular convention.

Rengo, founded in 1989, mainly represents small and medium-sized manufacturers in the country and has 7 million members.

Yoshino, 55, will serve a two-year term and succeeds Rikio Kozu, who headed Rengo for six years.

"By earnestly listening to the voices of our members, we will advance our activities so that we can create an environment where people can work together without worrying," Yoshino said after she was elected.

She joined the industry in 1984, working at Juki Corp, a sewing machine manufacturer, and has also been serving as deputy head of the Japanese Association of Metal, Machinery and Manufacturing Workers since 2015.

*Writing by Merve Berker