Overtime Activists Take on Corporate Titans: Toyota, McDonald's and Japan's Work Hour Controversy

Weathers, Charles; North, Scott

doi:10.5509/2009824615

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…To represent their stories and their hopes, we draw on evidence we have collected over more than 25 years of studying the problem and conducting fieldwork among principal members of the anti-karoshi movement (Morioka 2008, Morioka forthcoming;North 1999, North 2011Weathers and North 2009). From observations and interviews of movement participants and karoshi plaintiffs, as well as primary documents and secondary sources concerning key cases, we trace movement influence on the trajectory of reforms to Japan's standards for recognizing and compensating karoshi and karōjisatsu.…”

Section: Investigating Karoshimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Financialization of the economy and increased use of information technology are speeding up the pace of work and pushing it deeper into the sphere of personal time (Morioka 2013). When "voluntary" overtime practices common to many Japanese corporations were exposed as causes of karoshi, and collusion between corporate interests and MHLW bureaucrats intended to cover up the abuses became front-page news, some prominent firms publicly promised to mend their ways (see Weathers and North 2009). However, the major federation of employers, Keidanren, and its political allies pushed for further deregulation of Japan's worker protections.…”

Section: Post-dentsu Case Trends and Current Workers' Compensation Stmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although some corporations refused to accept Ministry decisions or even judicial decrees (see Weathers and North 2009), the struggle to expand corporate care obligations through the courts continued. In a recent case, a 35-yearold accountant for a lighting company died of cerebral hemorrhage.…”

Section: Exposing "Black Corporations" To Public Scrutinymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hope found in lives lost: karoshi and the pursuit of worker rights in Japan

North

Morioka

2016

Contemporary Japan

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Japanese social order emphasizes a superior's responsibility for their subordinates' well-being. This traditional "right to benevolence" is a wellspring of hope for workers. This paper describes how, in the wake of changes in employment practices since the mid-1970s, citizens' groups and labor lawyers creatively combined advances in medicine and legal knowledge with this right to benevolence in lawsuits seeking compensation for injuries caused by overwork. The social movement against karōshi (death due to overwork) that arose from these suits first sought workers' compensation system reforms. Later, they won legislative remedies. Rulings in Japanese courts, including the Supreme Court, affirmed employers' legal responsibility for worker well-being to include care for accumulated fatigue and mental health. Buoyed by these successes, activists and victims' families hopes of preventing karoshi reached new heights with the June 2014 passage of the Karoshi Prevention Countermeasures Promotion Law (Karōshi tō bōshi taisaku suishin-hō). Karoshi compensation victories, administrative rule changes, and legislative reforms raised public awareness of overwork and exploitative management practices. Nevertheless, we must conclude that, although karoshi legislation gives hope for a legal regime of employee care rights, the current law is weak and remediation only addresses the worst cases. Moreover, participation in the legislative process risks limiting the movement's future influence.

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Section: Investigating Karoshimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Post-dentsu Case Trends and Current Workers' Compensation Stmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hope found in lives lost: karoshi and the pursuit of worker rights in Japan

North

Morioka

2016

Contemporary Japan

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“…The court case also brought further public pressure which in 2007 led the government to drop its 'white-collar exemption' proposal which would have removed the obligation to pay overtime to most white-collar workers (Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 2009a;Ouchi, 2008;Weathers and North, 2009). McDonald's belligerent stance also encouraged more workers to take action.…”

Section: Long Hours and 'Manager In Name Only'mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The combination of restructuring, a power shift to management and the failure of unions to organize non-regular workers has led to a steady decline in trade union density from 55 per cent in 1949 to 18.1 per cent in 2008. Only 2-3 per cent of the estimated 10 million non-regular workers are union members (MHLW, 2009;Shinoda, 2008Shinoda, , 2009Suzuki, 2008;Weathers and North, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%