Report: Labour in Japan: a meltdown into management

Abstract

INTERNATIONAL union rights Page 22 Volume 20 Issue 4 2013 REPORT ❐ LABOUR MOVEMENT IN JAPAN Initially the US occupation encouraged trade unions in Japan but as communistinspired unions surged this policy saw a rapid about-turn - a ‘Red Purge’ began and a three-year limit was placed on the lifetime of collective agreements sidered to be the Cold War. SCAP intended to regulate the strike of the trade union and suppress communism in Japan. In addition, SCAP wanted to deveop the Japanese economy for a more independent alliance with the US. First of all SCAP demanded that the Japanese government restrict the trade union organised by public service workers. In responding to this demand, the Japanese government took the following measures as for public service workers who accounted for 40 percent of organised workers by the reform of the National Public Service Act in October 1948. These measures were (i) excluding an application of TUA 1945 to public service workers (so that TUA 1945 got to be applied only to the private-sector workers), (ii) prohibiting all public service workers from going on strikes by criminalising strikes, (iii) introducing different treatment between managerial workers and non-managerial workers which made it less likely for managerial workers to take part in unions, (iv) prohibiting payment to full-time union officials. The Demand of SCAP with Regard to Japanese Economy and the Reform of TUA 1945 As noted previously, SCAP intended to boost the Japanese economy in order to situate Japan in the factory of Asia as a bulwark against communism as soon as possible because of the Cold War. The US government declared nine principles about the policy for the Japanese economy. With regard to the industrial relations policy, the Japanese government published a new Ordinance in December 1948. This Ordinance required the trade unions to democratise their organisations. SCAP and the Japanese government thought that most trade unions were dominated by a few communist leaders. The democratisation of the trade unions meant that communist leaders of the trade union could be excluded from these organisations. In addition, the Japanese government intervened in collective agreements by this ordinance in order to make collective agreements unfavourable to workers. The reason of this intervention was that the Japanese government thought most collective agreements were advantageous to workers and that these collective agreements could be the cause of stagnating Japanese economy. In June 1949, TUA 1945 was revised to TUA 1949. TUA 1949 has required trade unions to establish an internal rule which ensures their democratic and impartial operation. TUA 1949 has also stipulated the rule by which managerial workers are prevented from joining trade unions. Furthermore TUA 1949 has set the rule of the colA lthough the activity of the trade union to strike had been restricted strictly by the Japanese government before World War II, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (‘SCAP’) tried, after the war, to promote organising workers in trade unions in order to democratise Japan. Therefore, immediately after WW2 and up to 1949, the density of the trade union in Japan increased rapidly to 55.8 percent. After 1949, however, the trade union density declined rapidly. Since then there has been a steady decline in density. More importantly it has come to be pointed out by some scholars in Japanese industrial relations that the Japanese trade unions have melted into management. In this article, it will be argued what processes after WW2 fueled this meltdown into management. The Enactment of TUA 1945 and the General Strike on 1 Feb 1947 Immediately after WW2, SCAP required the Japanese government to take several measures in order to promote democracy in Japan which included promoting trade unions. Responding to the demand of SCAP, the Trade Union Act (‘TUA’) 1945 was enacted on 22 December 1945. In addition the Constitution of Japan which included the guarantee of the right to organise, the right of collective bargaining and the right to strike to workers was published as a new constitution in 1946. The constitutional labour rights and TUA 1945 had continuity in terms of having the purpose of promoting democracy by improving the labour conditions. After WW2 the Japanese trade union were very...