The Japan Labor Flash No.63
Email Journal June 15, 2006
Recent Statistical Survey Reports
Current Topics
Monthly Union Dues Averages 5,107 Yen
Mitarai Designated as Chairman of Japan Business Federation
Public Policies
The Number of National Civil Servants to be Cut by 19,600
Complaints regarding Individual Labor Disputes Exceed 170,000
News Clippings
A Labor Union Established in McDonald's Japan
Full-Scale Training of New Recruits
Special Issue
Japanese Population Dwindling - Fertility Rate Hits a Shocking
1.25 Percent
[JILPT Information]
We, JILPT, compiled the papers provided to the 8th Comparative Labor
Law Seminar held on Feb, 2006 in Tokyo, and published a report titled
"Decentralizing Industrial Relations and the Role of Labor Unions
and
Employee Representatives (English edition)".
You can see complete contents of the report on our web site.
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/reports/jilpt_02.html
Statistical Reports
-Recent Statistical Survey Reports May 2006-
Features
Report on Employment Service for the disabled (FY2005)
Labor Force Survey : Detailed Analysis (Provisional Report Jan.-Mar.)
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/estatis/esaikin/2006/e2006-05.htm
Current Topics
-Monthly Union Dues Averages 5,107 Yen-
In May, Rengo (the Japanese Trade Union Confederation) and the Rengo
Research Institute for Advancement of Living Standards (Rengo-RIAL)
published the results of a survey on labor union membership fees.
According to these, an average union member (full-time regular employee)
paid 5,107 yen per month (weighted average), a drop of 70 yen compared
to the previous survey carried out two years earlier. The proportion of
the union dues to the monthly average wage (weighted) was 1.69 percent,
more or less the same level as seen in the previous survey. During the
past two years, a mere 4.4 percent of the trade unions surveyed have
raised their union dues, whereas 15.3 percent have reduced theirs.
Where union officials are concerned, the number of full-time union
members and union staff averaged 16.6 among the unions surveyed, a drop
by 2.6 persons compared to the previous survey, reflecting the drop in
the number of union members as a whole. As for reserve funds for strikes,
17.8 percent of the unions surveyed did not have any fund system as such,
and about 20 percent of those which had a system replied that they did
not in fact accumulate funds.
US$ = \114（June 15, 200)
-Mitarai Designated as Chairman of Japan Business Federation-
At the annual general assembly held in May 2006, Nippon Keidanren
(the Japan Business Federation) officially designated Fujio Mitarai,
the chairman and CEO of Canon Inc, as its new chairman. Proclaiming
"innovating Japan" as his motto for running the Federation,
Mr. Mitarai
expressed his determination to make Japan a country focused on
technological innovation. Canon Inc., which was under the management
of Mr. Mitarai, has announced that it will maintain life-long employment
as a mainstay of its management policy. At the same time, Mr. Mitarai
showed approval for McDonald's Japan’s recently dicision to abolish
mandatory retirement at age 60 as a forward looking employment measure.
In the meantime he basically regards "favorably" the acceptance
of
workers from abroad, a prime issue as Japanese society faces a declining
birthrate and ageing of the population. Although for many years past,
businessmen from the iron and steel, automobile, electric power, and
other heavy industries have been designated as chairmen of the Federation,
Mr. Mitarai is the first chairman from the information technology industry.
It will be interesting now to see how he will reflect the opinions of
the software and other advanced-technology industries in the policy of
the Federation.
Chairman Mitarai's Press Conference
http://www.keidanren.or.jp/english/speech/press/2006/0524.html
Public Policies
-The Number of National Civil Servants to be Cut by 19,600-
In May 2006, the Council of Advisors to the government published its
final report on the reduction in the number of national civil servants
to be carried out in the next five years (the Administrative Reform
Promotion Law enacted on May 26 specifies that the reduction shall be
five percent or more within five years). The gross reduction - the
total number by which the reduction exceeds any increase - will be
approximately 19,600 jobs, which corresponds to approximately six
percent of the total number of national civil servants, well above
the initial target of five percent. This step is part of the Koizumi
drive towards more simple, efficient government, whereby the government
aims to streamline duties and reduce personnel costs. Reflecting
resistance to the series of reforms, the number of applicants for the
civil service fell considerably, according to the National Personnel
Authority: the number of applicants for the Grade I national civil
service examination was 26,268, a drop of 15.6 percent compared to
the previous year; the number of applicants for Grade II and others
- designed for college graduates or similar level - totaled 71,263,
a drop of 20.1 percent compared to the previous year.
-Complaints regarding Individual Labor Disputes Exceed 170,000-
In May, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare compiled and
published the achievements of the individual labor dispute settlement
system in fiscal year 2005. Cases brought to comprehensive labor
counseling desks across the country regarding civil, individual labor
disputes totaled 176,429, an increase of 10.2 percent from the previous
fiscal year. Of these, the highest proportion, 26.1 percent, concerned
dismissals, followed by "lowering of labor conditions" (14.0
%) and
"bullying and harassment" (8.9 %).
News Clippings
-A Labor Union Established in McDonald's Japan-
Shop managers and other workers of McDonald's Co. Japan have
established a McDonald's Co. Japan labor union. Members of the new union
are 200 workers, including part-time workers, in Aichi and five other
prefectures. This was the first time for a leading fast food hamburger
restaurant to form a labor union.
In recent years, a spate of problems involving labor issues have
occurred at the company; last year, it admitted that it had failed
to pay a total of 2.2 billion yen of overtime in the past, and a shop
manager filed a lawsuit against the firm, calling for the payment of
unpaid wages for overtime. Commenting on the establishment of the
union, the company said that it intended to deal with the union in
good faith, the formation of a labor union being the right of workers.
In April, in the meantime, the company announced a revision of its
employment regulations and the abolishment of the mandatory retirement
system.
(Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun, May)
-Full-Scale Training of New Recruits-
In preparation for the "2007 problem" - the mass retirement
of baby
boomers - large firms have begun to make stronger efforts to foster
young manufacturing engineers.
Matsushita Electric Works Ltd. has decided to train a number of new
recruits who studied engineering at university as experts in factory,
production machines and other manufacturing engineering fields. Last
year, the company started a manufacturing training program, aimed at
newly employed engineering workers, in which retired engineers act
as lecturers to pass on their skills and expertise.
IBM Japan is to adopt a training assistant system in June. A full
-time instructor will supervise engineers who have worked for the
company for three years or less, helping them to pass the internal
certification examinations and providing advice on everyday work.
In this fiscal year, approximately 180 engineers who joined the company
in 2005 and belong to the system development or other service sections
will be subject to the training system, while approximately 60 engineers
with 10 years or more of experience will serve as instructors.
Suntory Ltd. has reintroduced a coaching system for the first time
in ten years. Under the system, mid-level employees with tenure of 10
years or more, supervise new recruits one-on-one. Starting this year,
164 new employees will be supervised by their seniors in their individual
sections or departments until March 2007, so as to learn not only the
basics of the business but also a wide range of knowledge including
practical work procedures. The company is also aiming to revitalize the
workplace by creating an atmosphere in which everyone is involved with
the training of new workers.
(Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun, May)
Special Issue
-Japanese Population Dwindling - Fertility Rate Hits a Shocking
1.25 Percent-
On June 1, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced that
Japan's total fertility rate hit a record low of 1.25 in 2005, falling
substantially from the 1.29 marked in the previous year. This is the
fifth consecutive year that the rate has dropped. The rate for Tokyo
was 0.98, the sole prefecture among the 47 prefectures to drop below
the 1.0 mark. The figure of 1.25 was definitely beyond the expectation
of the government.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2003/no.63/63_si.html
