Labor Welfare in Japan: Social Change and Enterprise Unionism

Abstract

Japanese unions, most typically known as enterprise unions, have realized extensive fringe benefits (welfare programs) through collective bargaining, but some unions, and their upper-level councils and federations, also have created their own welfare programs, including human services such as support for people with disabilities, the aged, women and children, consultation and counseling services, and career development. A pioneering example of the Denki Rengo (Japanese Electric, Electronic and Information Union) is presented. These programs have developed over decades in response to demographic changes such as an aging population, more women in the workforce, economic prosperity and stagnation, a shift toward service industries, globalization, and a philosophic change in emphasis from mutual help to self-help. Members' needs moved from economic affairs to broader life issues, became more individualized, and shifted toward the need to be secure in work and life, to which unions had to respond. Meanwhile, the base of enterprises, thus enterprise unionism, itself eroded. Unions lost power to play the game to yield economic gains. An emerging neo-classic society requested unions to take a role of welfare providers, not receivers. Unions escaped into, or steered toward, the welfare arena. Unions' welfare programs are being transferred to upper organizations, from individual enterprise unions, in cooperation with community organizations, and now are starting to extend their services not only to their own members but also to the community in general. Lacking is social workers' involvement. Many historic social work functions today are being carried out by unionists. Social workers, however, may start working for union programs soon, if Japanese social work, which has not shown a great interest in labor unions, expands its jurisdiction.

KEYWORDS:

• enterprise unionism
• Japanese unions
• social change
• union welfare

Notes

Sidney J. Webb and Beatrice P. Webb attach weight to the improvement of economic status. Vladimir I. Lenin emphasizes the involvement with all aspects of workers' lives—not only economic but also political, social and cultural—because the class rule/exploitation is holistic.

Technically speaking, they are federations of unions. Their official names are Federation of all Toyota Workers' Unions and Federation of all Nissan and General Workers' Unions.

Excluding unions organizing workers of more than one company.

The figures in this paragraph are based on those as of October 2006 (JASCSW, 2007).

Understanding and naming of social workers by the public, scholars, and even practitioners, however, may be different from this usage here.

The BSW degree, however, was indeed recognized for full professional membership in NASW in the United States in 1969 and became a CSWE-accredited degree in 1974.

It ceased activities within a few years and was reorganized in 1983.

The lowest starting salaries in FY2006 were ¥120,000 (US $1,030) for welfare agencies and ¥106,000 ($910) for medical agencies, and the highest ¥185,000 ($1,580) and ¥175,000 ($1,500), respectively. The average starting salary of all new college graduates in all occupational sectors in Japan was around ¥200,000 ($1,710) (Shirasawa, 2007).

Zenkoku Iryō (observer), JPU, Zen-yūsei, and Zenkoku Ippan.

Most union leaders work full-time for unions, on a release-time basis, receiving salaries from management.

Later, the drive was expanded to another railroad line as a campaign, “JR. Public Transportation for All.”

In Japan there is no law equivalent to the 1967 Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) in the United States. However, the 1999 amended Law Concerning Stabilization of Employment of Older Persons [Kōnenreisha-tō no Koyō no Antei-tō ni kansuru Hōritsu], in principle prohibits the establishment of a compulsory retirement age younger than age 60 years (Article 8).

The underemployed, who do not or cannot find stable full-time jobs, and therefore work at temporary jobs irregularly.

Youth who are not in employment, education, or training.