The Rising Voice of Japan’s Community Unions

Weathers, Charles

doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-1504-7_4

Cited by 14 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Broadbent, 2008;Oh, 2012;Stewart, 2006;Suzuki, 2008; Stewart, 2007, 2009;Weathers, 2010 Royle and Urano, 2012). The rise in non-regular employment provides these unions with a large pool of potential members.…”

Section: Labour Market Dualism In Japan and The Position Of Trade Unionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Broadbent, 2008;Oh, 2012;Stewart, 2006;Suzuki, 2008;Stewart, 2007, 2009;Weathers, 2010). Well-known examples include the Edogawa union from 1994, the Tokyo Managers Union from 1993 and the Women's Union Tokyo from 1995 (Oh, 2012; , 2012).…”

Section: Labour Market Dualism In Japan and The Position Of Trade Unionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The possibilities to organize employees in unionised workplaces are also limited by the prevalence of enterprise unionism and union shop agreements. As a consequence, these unions account for less than one per cent of total union membership (Oh, 2012;Royle and Urano, 2012;Weathers, 2010). Despite this relative weakness, community unions support individual workers through services in labour consultation and dispute resolution and provide visibility to the problems of precarious employment, often through a strong media presence (Oh 2012;Royle and Urano, 2012).…”

Section: Labour Market Dualism In Japan and The Position Of Trade Unionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Inclusion of ‘Outsiders’ by Japanese Unions? The Organizing of Non-Regular Workers in Retail

Keizer

2018

Work, Employment and Society

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A strong rise in non-regular employment has posed a major challenge to Japanese trade unions which have long limited membership to regular employees. However, a number of mainstream unions in the retail industry have responded by organizing non-regular workers. The article draws on a series of semi-structured interviews with union representatives to analyse the initiatives by the industrial federation UA Zensen and three affiliated enterprise unions. It addresses the implications for both the workers and the unions concerned. Unions have provided a stronger voice to nonregular workers and negotiated better working conditions. However, it has not brought material equality with regular workers or major changes to Japanese unionism. Instead, the enterprise-based and cooperative nature of unionism has shaped the initiatives and reproduced traditional equilibria and processes between labour and management, thus constraining the ability of unions to develop a strong stance for the emancipation of non-regular workers.Keywords: dualism, inclusion, Japan, non-regular, organizing, part-time, revitalisation, unionization, unions Corresponding author details:Arjan Keizer, Alliance Manchester Business School, Booth Street East, Manchester, M15 6PB, UK.Email: arjan.keizer@mbs.ac.uk IntroductionThe strong rise in non-regular and often precarious employment has posed major challenges to trade unions across developed economies (e.g. Gumbrell-McCormick, 2011;Hyman, 1997; Keune, 2013). They are increasingly trying to represent these workers but former strategies of exclusion and the inherent characteristics of much non-regular work has hindered progress. This challenge also holds for Japan where inclusion is often restricted by the prevalence of enterprise unions and their exclusive commitment to regular workers (seishain) as members of the firm 'community' (Jeong and Aguilera, 2008;Urano and Stewart, 2007;Weathers, 2010). Japanese unions have therefore been argued to contribute to the existing labour market dualism rather than to its solution (e.g. Broadbent, 2008;Stewart, 2006;Urano and Stewart, 2009).The challenge has become particularly pressing because of the very strong rise in nonregular (part-time, temporary, agency) employment (hiseiki koyō) in Japan to over one-third of total employment (JILPT, 2016). It has contributed to a historically low unionization rate of 17.3 per cent in 2016 (Survey on Trade Unions Structure) and pushed unions to reconsider their former strategy of exclusion. Moreover, it has raised concerns about the rise in 'working poor' (wākingu puā) and social inequality (kakusa shakai) (e.g. Imai, 2011;Weathers, 2010; Yun, 2010). A limited number of mainstream unions have responded by recruiting and representing non-regular workers and this article analyses the strategies by the industrial union UA Zensen -the most successful federation in this respect -and three of its affiliated enterprise unions at major retail firms. The article will qualify these strategies as 'organizing' but uses this t...

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Section: Labour Market Dualism In Japan and The Position Of Trade Unionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Labour Market Dualism In Japan and The Position Of Trade Unionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Labour Market Dualism In Japan and The Position Of Trade Unionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Inclusion of ‘Outsiders’ by Japanese Unions? The Organizing of Non-Regular Workers in Retail

Keizer

2018

Work, Employment and Society

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“…Nevertheless, their low membership rates are not a reflection of their influence; community unions have become a significant force in Japan. Their officials are frequently cited in the media as knowledgeable experts on labour issues and, with the decline in secure and well paid jobs, these community unions have become an important focus for Japanese labour politics (Shinoda, 2009;Weathers, 2010). This article examines the events that led to the establishment of a new style of community union at McDonald's Japan: the 'McUnion' (Nihon Makudonarudo Yunion) in 2006.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new form of union organizing in Japan? Community unions and the case of the McDonald’s ‘McUnion’

Royle

Urano

2012

Work, Employment and Society

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“…; Chan (2008); Endō (2012); Fukui (2005, 2012); Kinoshita (2012); Kumazawa (2013); Oh (2012); Royle and Urano (2012); Suzuki (2005, 2012); Takai (2009); Takeuchi-Okuno (2012); Stewart (2007, 2009);and Weathers (2010).…”

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confidence: 99%

The Struggle for Revitalisation by Japanese Labour Unions: Worker Organising after Labour-Market Deregulation

Watanabe

2015

Journal of Contemporary Asia

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This article analyses the decline of Japanese labour unions and their struggles for revitalisation from a power resources perspective. It demonstrates first that the power resources of labour unions declined in the neo-liberal political process of labour-market deregulation as a result of lower union density, the intensified conflicts of interest among unions and their reduced access to policy-making. Although this situation induced labour unions to change their interest representation to some extent and organise an increasing number of non-regular and marginalised regular workers, the article claims that they are still concerned about protecting the vested interests of regular workers in large companies and their efforts to organise non-regular and marginalised regular workers have been insufficient. In addition, although community unions have aimed to organise these workers extensively, their human and financial resources are too small to do so and revitalise the labour movement.This article analyses how the power resources of Japanese labour unions declined in the political process of labour-market deregulation in the late 1990s and early 2000s and how labour unions attempted to revitalise the labour movement from a power resources perspective. Although they achieved substantial unification of the labour movement with the establishment of Rengō (Japanese Trade Union Confederation) in 1989, their power resources declined in the process of labour-market deregulation, as it lowered union density by increasing the number of unorganised non-regular workers, exacerbated the conflicts of interest among unions and reduced their access to policy-making. This article claims that, faced with these difficulties, Japanese unions increased efforts to organise and represent the interests of non-regular workers and regular workers in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), if not to a sufficient extent. The achievement of greater power resources by organising these workers was considered essential for the survival and maintenance of social relevance of labour unions. However, many enterprise unions are still reluctant to organise these workers. Although "community" unions organised these workers to solve their labour disputes and improve their working conditions, the human

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The Rising Voice of Japan’s Community Unions

Cited by 14 publications

References 7 publications

Inclusion of ‘Outsiders’ by Japanese Unions? The Organizing of Non-Regular Workers in Retail

Inclusion of ‘Outsiders’ by Japanese Unions? The Organizing of Non-Regular Workers in Retail

A new form of union organizing in Japan? Community unions and the case of the McDonald’s ‘McUnion’

The Struggle for Revitalisation by Japanese Labour Unions: Worker Organising after Labour-Market Deregulation

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