Table of contents
1) Introduction -----------------------------------------3
2) USA Industrialization ------------------------------3
3) Japan Industrialization -----------------------------5
3.1) Shunto bargaining--------------------------------7
4) Conclusion-------------------------------------------7
5) References-------------------------------------------8
What factors account for variations in the patterns of industrial action between different countries?
1) Introduction
Collectively to any measure taken by trade unions or other organised labour meant to reduce productivity in a workplace. Quiet often it is interpreted as Strike. Industrial action may take place in the context of a labour dispute or may be meant to affect political or social change. Richard (2006)
Workplace relationships invariably involve conflict. Because there are different perspectives on what constitutes conflict, it can be conveyed in a wide variety of ways. One of the most basic decisions employees have to make when experiencing dissatisfaction is whether or not they should express their discontent. Some conflict can be expressed individually, or collectively. Gerg, Russell and Nick (2004)(
Industrial action may take place in the context of a labour dispute or may be platform to effect the political or social change. Specifically industrial action may include one or more following: Strike, Go Slow, Work to rule, General strike, Slowdown and overtime ban Norwood (2002) most strikes called by unions are somewhat predictable, they occur after the contract has expired the methods used in a form like Strike preparation, Strike breaking, Union busting, Lockout and finally end with Violence.
Strike activity has declined dramatically in the past few years in Japan. However, that does not essentially mean that workers are generally satisfied with their pay and conditions. Although strike is seen being synonymous with industrial conflict, removing it does not necessary mean a decline in conflict. Strike is the most common and most visible expression.
As we see from the past in case of USA it has more strikes actions compared with Japan also the political stoppage in Japan takes vital role where as in USA it’s not. The political concern or political impact doesn’t fall into US industrial relations.
2) United States of America Industrialization
Economic strikes and lockouts in an attempt to obtain a more favourable
agreement from the other party than the agreement would offer in the absence of a strike or lockout are considered ‘protected economic weapons’ in the United States. During the negotiation of a collective agreement, they may be used only at legal impasse, which is defined as irreconcilable differences after good faith negotiations. Mark (2003) The theoretical purpose of a strike or lockout, in an industrial relations sense is to encourage one or both parties to make concessions so that an agreement can be reached. No strike vote is required, as the United States law would see such a strike vote as an intrusion on the rights of an organization, the union, to establish its own procedures for internal decision-making. In the United States, just as the strike is considered a protected economic weapon for unions to protect their interests, the employer may, if it wishes, hire replacement workers for economic strikers, with no obligation to terminate the replacements at the end of the strike or if the strikers choose to return to work. While there are certain condition the employer must meet in order to hire these permanent replacements, the option of hiring replacements does provide the employer with an important tool to offset the union’s strike weapon.
Bernhard (2006) In order for the employer to be permitted to hire permanent replacements, the strike must be an economic strike, over differences in proposals for terms and conditions of employment. The employer is not permitted to hire replacements if the purpose of the strike is to protest of, in response to, or is lengthened by an employer’s unfair labour practice. In the United States, there is often litigation over whether a strike is an unfair labour practice strike or an economic strike.
Lockouts are somewhat infrequent in the United States, but do occur. In 2002, a recent well-publicized lockout involved the Pacific Maritime Association, the organization representing dock firms on the west coast of the United States, locking out the employees represented by the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union (Machalaba and Kim, 2002). The 2004–05 National (Ice) Hockey League season was cancelled when the league locked out players represented by the National Hockey League Player’s Association (Westhead, 2005). The question of whether employers may temporarily replace locked out workers is unresolved.
at least one day, 1969–1981
Source: International Labour Organization
Note: No data available for 1974
Source: International Labour Organization
A major difference between the Japan, the USA most new Member States, is the strong presence of sectoral employer organizations with a collective bargaining role. Such bodies are rare in the new Member States (with three exceptions) and the USA, and non-existent in Japan Charles, (1996) (though employer associations may play a 'behind the scenes' role in coordinating member companies' bargaining). As noted, bargaining and industrial conflict exist side-by-side in the United States and Canada. The two major forms of industrial conflict are strikes and lockouts.
3) Japan Industrialization
Japan emphasizes ‘traditional’ harmony and consensus in the communication between management and labour. Norma (1991) Japanese economy’s manufacturing sector retains its world-class competitiveness in such industries as automobiles and electronics. Although most industrialized countries suffer from the post-industrialization syndrome characterized by de-industrialization and the decline of manufacturing, Japan borders on being an exception.
One typical characteristic of Japanese labour relations is the underlying
consonance between the state, employee groups and the labour centre, which makes Japanese labour relations unusually co-operative and free of overt and extreme labour–management conflicts. The state plays the role of neutral referee in labour relations. (Berggren and Nomura 1997; Kuwahara 1998) In Recent, the three pillars of the Japanese system – long-term employment, seniority-based pay, and enterprise unions – have been noticeably weakened. Although the three pillars benefited only regular male employees in large firms irregular employees such as part-time workers, seasonal workers and immigrant workers were excluded; they represented the norm in Japanese labour relations.
Some companies interpret the recent large-scale layoffs, the adoption of
performance pay and the continuing decline of enterprise unionism as marking the end of Japanese-style labour relations (Whittaker 1998). Indeed, union membership and density have declined steadily since 1970. The main reasons of this weakening may be the shift of employment from the industrial sector to the service sector and decreasing union loyalty from workers. Most unions conduct pay negotiations during Shunto in April and May of each year, but the relative importance of these negotiations in national wage bargaining has declined.
Furthermore, the number of labour disputes has been falling, which implies that the significance of unionism in Japan is becoming weaker and weaker.
In contrast to the viewers who see Japanese-style labour relations disintegrating, another group thinks that the essence of the system is still intact (Berggren and Nomura 1997; Kuwahara 1998). Typically Japanese firms as a quasi employee-managed firm or corporate community. That is, most directors of these firms are ex-employees, some of them whom were leaders of enterprise unions when they were rank and file employees. It is assumed that Japanese-style employee-managed firms seek to maximize the dividend or net income per worker, while typical capitalist firms seek to maximize total profit. Also in addition, an employee-managed firm implies a type of participatory management in which member–workers hold ultimate decision-making rights. This interpretation explains why Japanese employers are extremely reluctant to fire permanent employees. Its perspective of the corporate community as the essence Kuwahara, (1998) of the Japanese system and the three pillars as merely surface phenomenon also supports a conclusion that the Japanese system has not been transformed. As for the labour movement, the new Rengo – which is Japanese Trade Union Confederation was established in 1989 and has pursued co-operative labour–management relations. The Rengo attempted to unify the industrial federations of enterprise unionism to respond effectively to industrial and national-level employment issues. However, the Rengo has been unsuccessful in coping with either industrial-level restructuring drives or declines in unionism.
Enterprise in which labour disputes occurred by size of enterprise, employees involved, private sector, 1981 Norma 1991
| Size (number of employees) | Number of enterprises | % percentage | Number of employees involved | % Percentage |
| Large 5000 or more 1000- 4999 300-999 | 115 258 470 | 4.2 9.3 17.0 | 92,984 121,528 119,694 | 19.8 25.9 25.5 |
| Medium 100-299 30-99 | 797 780 | 28.8 28.2 | 80,039 31,157 | 17.1 6.6 |
| Small 29 or less | 274 | 9.9 | 3,398 | 0.7 |
| Not classified | 72 | 2.6 | 3,398 | 0.7 |
| Total | 2766 | 100.0 | 468,987 | 100.0 |
Source: Compiled from Year book of Labour statistics, 1981, statistics and Information Department, Ministers Secretariat, Ministry of Labour, Tokyo, 1983
3.1) Shunto Bargaining
Shunto bargaining or spring wage offensive system the adoption of the system made gradual change in the system in the role of organized labour from one concerned to primarily with the political ends to one devoted to the economic benefits of its members. Robert (1987) to explain the relationship it started in the year of 1967 negotations. On November 1966 the sohyo and chruitsuroren Joint spring offensive Action committee issued a white paper on “An offensive to initiative the prospects of a high wage era by fighting for high wage rates in a period of prosperity. It proposed an increase in wages of yen 10,000 ($27.78) a month about 30 percent. At the same time, it urged for a statutory flat rate national minimum wage, the extension of social security, tax deductions, opposition to the rise in government monopoly product prices, restoration to government employees of right to strike and opposition to to any rationalization which may be introduced in the wake of wage system. The apparent need for programmed work stoppages and disputes are in increase in their number is understandable only in the context of Japan labour scene. Japan has always well known for the short term strikes and extensive use of labour commissions as mediators. This stem from a variety of factors
1) A system of lifetime commitment, either party wishes to risk or prolonged open conflict
2) The use of symbolic use of force is deeply ingrained cultural trait
3) Some workers can engage in lengthy work stoppages
This type of dispute form it is easy to see how it can be incorporated into shunto where in USA for example could not be done.
4) Conclusion
Japan had very much lower levels of labour disputes than the USA; Japan has no nationwide or regional labour-management negotiating processes to determine working conditions for employees. United States has permit private sector parties to engage in industrial conflict, strikes and lockouts as an element of negotiation of collective bargaining agreements. State level legislation in the United States generally prohibits public employees from striking with some states opting for compulsory arbitration as a strike substitute for specific categories of public employees. Strikes have declined from 1980. It is most likely that the decline in work stoppages has been due to the effects of Globalization – increasing global competition makes a strike a much less effective weapon that the otherwise as lost market share is less likely to be replaced. Under the 1935 federal National Labour Relations Act workers in the US gained the right to bargain collectively over wages, hours and other terms and conditions with their employers Strikes undertaken by labour unions
In 2004, US union density slipped to 12.5% of wage and salary workers in 2004, down from 12.9% in 2003 and 13.2% in 2002, with private sector density falling to 7.9% in 2004 from 8.2% in 2003 (in 1983, union density stood at 20.1%).
In Japan, the number of collective labour disputes has fallen progressively since the 1970s, to 4,376 in 1980, 2,071 in 1990 and 884 in 2001, though there was a slight upturn to 1,002 in 2002. The main issues at dispute in 2002 were wage increases, followed by dismissal/reinstatement. Japan might be regarded as one of the most remarkable countries in the world in sense of greatest variety of acts of dispute occurs their daily. Japanese unions are proud of their rich imagination.
5) References
Berggren, C. and Nomura, M. (1997). ‘ Employement practices: a critical analysis of the three pillars’ . In C. Berggren and M. Nomura (eds), The Resilience of Corporate Japan: New Competitive Strategies and Personnel Practices: 66-94. London Paul Chapman Educational Publishing.
Bernhard Ebbinghaus (2006). Reforming early retirement in Europe, Japan and the USA. London: Oxford University Press. 71-89.
Charles J. McMillan (1996). The Japanese industrial system. 3rd ed. London: Walter de Gruyter. 49-63.
Greg J Bamber, Russell D Lansubury and Nick Wailes (2004). International and Comparative Employement Relations. 4th ed. Australia: Sage publications. 3-5.
Kuwahara, Y. (1998) ‘Employment relations in Japan’. In G.J Bamber and R.D. Lansbury and N. Wailes (eds), International and Comparative Employment Relations. London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Machalaba, Daniel and Queena Kook Kim, 2002, ‘West Coast Ports, Dockworkers Set Tentative Deal on Key Issue,’Wall Street Journal, November 4.
Mark Carley. (2003). Industrial relations in the EU, Japan and USA, . Available: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2002/12/feature/tn0212101f.htm. Last accessed 14 March 2009.
Norma J Chalmers (1991). Industrial Relations In Japan. London: Routledge. 218 – 235
Norwood, Stephen H (2002). Strikebreaking and Intimidation. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press,
Robert Evans JR.. (1987). Shunto: Japanese Labors Spring wage offensive. Labour Review. 1 (2), 23-28.
Whittaker, D.H. (1998) ‘ Labour unions and industrial relations in Japan: crumbling pillar or forging a ‘third way’?’ Industrial relations Journal, 29(4): 280-294
Westhead, Rick, 2005, ‘Hockey: NHL Players Overwhelmingly Approve Deal,’ New York Times, July 22.
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