Labor unions in Japan
Encyclopedia
Labour unions emerged in Japan
in the second half of the Meiji period
as the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization. Until 1945, however, the labour movement remained weak, impeded by lack of legal rights, anti-union legislation, management-organized factory councils, and political divisions between “cooperative” and radical unionists. In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the US Occupation authorities initially encouraged the formation of independent unions. Legislation was passed that enshrined the right to organize, and membership rapidly rose to 5 million by February, 1947. The organization rate, however, peaked at 55.8% in 1949 and subsequently declined to 18.2% (2006). The labour movement went through a process of reorganization from 1987 to 1991 from which emerged the present configuration of three major labour union federations, along with other smaller national union organizations.
, with a combined membership of 7,395,666 workers, belonged either directly, or indirectly through labour union councils, to the three main labour union federations:
A further 19,139 unions, with a combined membership of 2,842,521 workers, were affiliated to other national labour organizations. The labour union organizations included (with membership figures for 2001/2002) the National Federation of Construction Workers' Unions (717,908) Federation of City Bank Employees' Unions (105,950), Zendenko Roren (53,853), National Federation of Agricultural Mutual Aid Societies Employees' Unions (45,830), All Japan Council of Optical Industry Workers' Union (44,776), National Teachers Federation of Japan (42,000), Faculty and Staff Union of Japanese Universities (38,500), and All Aluminium Industrial Workers Union (36,000).
In the first half of the Meiji period
(1868-1912), most labour disputes occurred in the mining
and textile industries
and took the form of small-scale strikes
and spontaneous riots
. The second half of the period witnessed rapid industrialization, the development of a capitalist economy, and the transformation of many feudal workers to wage labour
. The use of strike action increased, and 1897, with the establishment of a union for metalworkers, saw the beginnings of the modern Japanese trade-union movement.
In February 1898, engineers and stokers at the Japan Railway Company
successfully struck for an improvement of status and higher wages. In the same year, ships' carpenters in Tokyo
and Yokohama
formed a union, and a dispute followed with demands for higher wages. 1907 saw the greatest number of disputes in a decade, with large-scale riots at Japan's two leading copper mines, Ashio
and Besshi, which were only suppressed by the use of troops. None of these early unions, however, were large (the metalworkers union had 3,000 members, only 5% of workers employed in the industry), or lasted longer than three or four years, largely due to strong opposition from employers and the government's anti-union policies, notably the Public Order and Police Provisions Law (1900).
One labour organization that did survive was the Friendly Society (Yuaikai), formed in 1912 by Bunji Suzuki
, which became Japan's first durable union and was renamed the Japan Federation of Labour (Nihon Rōdō Sodomei or Sōdōmei) in 1921. Two years later it had a membership of 100,000 in 300 unions. From 1918 to 1921, a wave of major industrial disputes marked the peak of organized labour power. A prolonged economic slump that followed brought cutbacks in employment in heavy industry
. In the early 1920s, ultra-cooperative unionists proposed the fusion of labour and management interests, heightening political divisions within the labour movement and precipitating the departure of left wing
unions from Sōdōmei in 1925. The union movement has remained divided between right wing
(“cooperative”) unions and left wing unions ever since.
Hampered by their weak legal status, the absence of a right to bargain collectively with employers, and the setting up of management-organized factory councils, over 800 unions had succeeded in organizing only 7.9% of the labour force by 1931. Of these unions, the majority were organized along industrial or craft lines, with about one-third organized on an enterprise basis.
In 1940, the government dissolved the existing unions and absorbed them into the Industrial Association for Serving the Nation (Sangyo Hokokukai or Sampō), the government-sponsored workers' organization, as part of a national reorganization of all civil organizations under central government direction and as a means of controlling radical elements in the workforce. Sampō remained in existence at the end of the war.
s were represented by four main labor federations: the General Council of Trade Unions of Japan (日本労働組合総評議会 nihon rōdō kumiai sōhyōgikai, commonly known as Sohyo
), with 4.4 million members—a substantial percentage representing public sector employees; the Japan Confederation of Labour (zen nihon rodo sodomei, commonly known as Domei), with 2.2 million members; the Federation of Independent Labour Unions (中立労連 Churitsu Roren), with 1.6 million members; and the National Federation of Industrial Organizations (新産別 Shinsanbetsu), with only 61,000 members.
In 1987 Domei and Churitsu Roren were dissolved and amalgamated into the newly established National Federation of Private Sector Unions (連合 RENGO
); and in 1990 Sohyo affiliates merged with Rengo.
. Many people entering the work force in the 1980s joined smaller companies in the tertiary sector, where there was a general disinclination toward joining labor organizations.
Any regular employee below the rank of section chief is eligible to become a union officer. Management, however, often pressures the workers to select favored employees. Officers usually maintain their seniority and tenure while working exclusively on union activities and while being paid from the union's accounts, and union offices are often located at the factory site. Many union officers go on to higher positions within the corporation if they are particularly effective, but few become active in organized labor activities at the national level.
The relationship between the typical labor union and the company is unusually close. Both white- and blue-collar workers join the union automatically in most major companies. Temporary and subcontracting workers are excluded, and managers with the rank of section manager and above are considered part of management. In most corporations, however, many of the managerial staff are former union members. In general, Japanese unions are sensitive to the economic health of the company, and company management usually brief the union membership on the state of corporate affairs.
. Unit unions often banded together for wage negotiations, but federations did not control their policies or actions. Federations also engaged in political and public relations activities.
During prosperous times, the spring labor offensive
s are highly ritualized affairs, with banners, sloganeering, and dances aimed more at being a show of force than a crippling job action. Meanwhile, serious discussions take place between the union officers and corporate managers to determine pay and benefit adjustments.
During downturns, or when management tries to reduce the number of permanent employees, strike
s often occur. The number of working days lost to labor disputes peaked in the economic turmoil of 1974 and 1975 at around 9 million workdays in the two-year period. In 1979, however, there were fewer than 1 million days lost. Since 1981 the average number of days lost per worker each year to disputes was just over 9% of the number lost in the United States. After 1975, when the economy entered a period of slower growth, annual wage increases moderated and labor relations were conciliatory. During the 1980s, workers received pay hikes that on average closely reflected the real growth of GNP for the preceding year. In 1989, for example, workers received an average 5.1% pay hike, while GNP
growth had averaged 5% between 1987 and 1989. The moderate trend continued in the early 1990s as the country's national labor federations were reorganizing themselves.
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Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
in the second half of the Meiji period
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
as the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization. Until 1945, however, the labour movement remained weak, impeded by lack of legal rights, anti-union legislation, management-organized factory councils, and political divisions between “cooperative” and radical unionists. In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the US Occupation authorities initially encouraged the formation of independent unions. Legislation was passed that enshrined the right to organize, and membership rapidly rose to 5 million by February, 1947. The organization rate, however, peaked at 55.8% in 1949 and subsequently declined to 18.2% (2006). The labour movement went through a process of reorganization from 1987 to 1991 from which emerged the present configuration of three major labour union federations, along with other smaller national union organizations.
National labor union federations
In 2005, 43,096 labour unions in JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, with a combined membership of 7,395,666 workers, belonged either directly, or indirectly through labour union councils, to the three main labour union federations:
- RengoRENGO-External links:...
: Japanese Trade Union Confederation (日本労働組合総連合会 Nihon Rōdōkumiai Sōrengō-kai) 33,940 unions, 6,507,222 members - Zenroren: National Confederation of Trade Unions (全国労働組合総連合 Zenkoku Rōdōkumiai Sōrengō) 7,531 unions, 730,102 members
- Zenrokyo: National Trade Union Council (全国労働組合連絡協議会 Zenkoku Rōdōkumiai Renraku Kyōgi-kai) 1,625 unions, 158,342 members
A further 19,139 unions, with a combined membership of 2,842,521 workers, were affiliated to other national labour organizations. The labour union organizations included (with membership figures for 2001/2002) the National Federation of Construction Workers' Unions (717,908) Federation of City Bank Employees' Unions (105,950), Zendenko Roren (53,853), National Federation of Agricultural Mutual Aid Societies Employees' Unions (45,830), All Japan Council of Optical Industry Workers' Union (44,776), National Teachers Federation of Japan (42,000), Faculty and Staff Union of Japanese Universities (38,500), and All Aluminium Industrial Workers Union (36,000).
Meiji period to 1945
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
(1868-1912), most labour disputes occurred in the mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
and textile industries
Textile industry
The textile industry is primarily concerned with the production of yarn, and cloth and the subsequent design or manufacture of clothing and their distribution. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry....
and took the form of small-scale strikes
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
and spontaneous riots
Riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...
. The second half of the period witnessed rapid industrialization, the development of a capitalist economy, and the transformation of many feudal workers to wage labour
Wage labour
Wage labour is the socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer, where the worker sells their labour under a formal or informal employment contract. These transactions usually occur in a labour market where wages are market determined...
. The use of strike action increased, and 1897, with the establishment of a union for metalworkers, saw the beginnings of the modern Japanese trade-union movement.
In February 1898, engineers and stokers at the Japan Railway Company
Nippon Railway
was the first private railway company in the history of Japan. The company built trunk lines connecting Tokyo with the Tōhoku region to the northeast...
successfully struck for an improvement of status and higher wages. In the same year, ships' carpenters in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
and Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
formed a union, and a dispute followed with demands for higher wages. 1907 saw the greatest number of disputes in a decade, with large-scale riots at Japan's two leading copper mines, Ashio
Ashio, Tochigi
Ashio was a town located in Kamitsuga District, Tochigi, Japan.On March 20, 2006 Ashio, along with the town of Fujihara, the village of Kuriyama, both from Shioya District, and the old city of Imaichi, was merged into the expanded city of Nikkō....
and Besshi, which were only suppressed by the use of troops. None of these early unions, however, were large (the metalworkers union had 3,000 members, only 5% of workers employed in the industry), or lasted longer than three or four years, largely due to strong opposition from employers and the government's anti-union policies, notably the Public Order and Police Provisions Law (1900).
One labour organization that did survive was the Friendly Society (Yuaikai), formed in 1912 by Bunji Suzuki
Social Democratic Party (Japan, 1926)
The Social Democratic Party was a political party in Japan between 1926 and 1932...
, which became Japan's first durable union and was renamed the Japan Federation of Labour (Nihon Rōdō Sodomei or Sōdōmei) in 1921. Two years later it had a membership of 100,000 in 300 unions. From 1918 to 1921, a wave of major industrial disputes marked the peak of organized labour power. A prolonged economic slump that followed brought cutbacks in employment in heavy industry
Heavy industry
Heavy industry does not have a single fixed meaning as compared to light industry. It can mean production of products which are either heavy in weight or in the processes leading to their production. In general, it is a popular term used within the name of many Japanese and Korean firms, meaning...
. In the early 1920s, ultra-cooperative unionists proposed the fusion of labour and management interests, heightening political divisions within the labour movement and precipitating the departure of left wing
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
unions from Sōdōmei in 1925. The union movement has remained divided between right wing
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
(“cooperative”) unions and left wing unions ever since.
Hampered by their weak legal status, the absence of a right to bargain collectively with employers, and the setting up of management-organized factory councils, over 800 unions had succeeded in organizing only 7.9% of the labour force by 1931. Of these unions, the majority were organized along industrial or craft lines, with about one-third organized on an enterprise basis.
In 1940, the government dissolved the existing unions and absorbed them into the Industrial Association for Serving the Nation (Sangyo Hokokukai or Sampō), the government-sponsored workers' organization, as part of a national reorganization of all civil organizations under central government direction and as a means of controlling radical elements in the workforce. Sampō remained in existence at the end of the war.
1945 to the present
Until the mid-1980s, Japan's 74,500 trade unionTrade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s were represented by four main labor federations: the General Council of Trade Unions of Japan (日本労働組合総評議会 nihon rōdō kumiai sōhyōgikai, commonly known as Sohyo
Sohyo
Sōhyō , the General Council of Trade Unions of Japan, founded in 1950 is the predominantly public sector union confederation in Japan. It merged with RENGO in 1990....
), with 4.4 million members—a substantial percentage representing public sector employees; the Japan Confederation of Labour (zen nihon rodo sodomei, commonly known as Domei), with 2.2 million members; the Federation of Independent Labour Unions (中立労連 Churitsu Roren), with 1.6 million members; and the National Federation of Industrial Organizations (新産別 Shinsanbetsu), with only 61,000 members.
In 1987 Domei and Churitsu Roren were dissolved and amalgamated into the newly established National Federation of Private Sector Unions (連合 RENGO
RENGO
-External links:...
); and in 1990 Sohyo affiliates merged with Rengo.
Membership
The rate of labor union membership, which was 35.4% in 1970, had declined considerably by the end of the 1980s. The continuing long-term reduction in union membership was caused by several factors, including the restructuring of Japanese industry away from heavy industriesHeavy industry
Heavy industry does not have a single fixed meaning as compared to light industry. It can mean production of products which are either heavy in weight or in the processes leading to their production. In general, it is a popular term used within the name of many Japanese and Korean firms, meaning...
. Many people entering the work force in the 1980s joined smaller companies in the tertiary sector, where there was a general disinclination toward joining labor organizations.
Any regular employee below the rank of section chief is eligible to become a union officer. Management, however, often pressures the workers to select favored employees. Officers usually maintain their seniority and tenure while working exclusively on union activities and while being paid from the union's accounts, and union offices are often located at the factory site. Many union officers go on to higher positions within the corporation if they are particularly effective, but few become active in organized labor activities at the national level.
The relationship between the typical labor union and the company is unusually close. Both white- and blue-collar workers join the union automatically in most major companies. Temporary and subcontracting workers are excluded, and managers with the rank of section manager and above are considered part of management. In most corporations, however, many of the managerial staff are former union members. In general, Japanese unions are sensitive to the economic health of the company, and company management usually brief the union membership on the state of corporate affairs.
Negotiations and actions
Local labor unions and work unit unions, rather than the federations, conducted the major collective bargainingCollective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiations between employers and the representatives of a unit of employees aimed at reaching agreements that regulate working conditions...
. Unit unions often banded together for wage negotiations, but federations did not control their policies or actions. Federations also engaged in political and public relations activities.
During prosperous times, the spring labor offensive
Shunto
is a Japanese term, usually translated as "spring [wages] offensive", with the word "wages" sometimes replaced with livelihood, labour or similar term. It refers to the annual wage negotiations between the enterprise unions and the employers...
s are highly ritualized affairs, with banners, sloganeering, and dances aimed more at being a show of force than a crippling job action. Meanwhile, serious discussions take place between the union officers and corporate managers to determine pay and benefit adjustments.
During downturns, or when management tries to reduce the number of permanent employees, strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
s often occur. The number of working days lost to labor disputes peaked in the economic turmoil of 1974 and 1975 at around 9 million workdays in the two-year period. In 1979, however, there were fewer than 1 million days lost. Since 1981 the average number of days lost per worker each year to disputes was just over 9% of the number lost in the United States. After 1975, when the economy entered a period of slower growth, annual wage increases moderated and labor relations were conciliatory. During the 1980s, workers received pay hikes that on average closely reflected the real growth of GNP for the preceding year. In 1989, for example, workers received an average 5.1% pay hike, while GNP
Measures of national income and output
A variety of measures of national income and output are used in economics to estimate total economic activity in a country or region, including gross domestic product , gross national product , and net national income . All are specially concerned with counting the total amount of goods and...
growth had averaged 5% between 1987 and 1989. The moderate trend continued in the early 1990s as the country's national labor federations were reorganizing themselves.
See also
- Japanese employment lawJapanese employment law- Employment Agreements :Under the Civil Code, a contract in which one person performs services for another with compensation may be construed as any one of the following:* an where the object is the completion of labor under the employing party's direction....
- Kyabakura Union
- Japan Teachers UnionJapan Teachers Union, often just called , is Japan's largest and oldest labor union of teachers and school staffs. The union is known for its critical stance against the conservative Liberal Democratic Party government on such issues as Kimi ga Yo, the Flag of Japan, and the screening of history text books since its...
National
Local
- Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union (Tozen) (en)
- Tokyo NAMBU FWC (en)
- General Union (Osaka and Nagoya areas) (en)
- Kanagawa City Union (ja)
- Zentoitsu Workers Union (Ueno-Okachimachi, Tokyo) (ja)
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