The JIL Labor Flash Vol.32
Email Journal 02.12.2002
Statistical Reports
Main Labor Economic Indicators
Current Topics
Eighty percent of workers concerned about their employment or
treatment
Public Policies
Wage cuts for municipal government employees
News Clippings
Labor and management cooperate to set up a day care center for
children ...etc
Special Issue
Japan's reputation as a "safe" country under threat
Statistical Reports
-Main Labor Economic Indicators November 2002-
http://www.jil.go.jp/estatis/eshuyo/200211/econtents.htm
Current Topics
-Eighty percent of workers concerned about their employment or
treatment-
In late September, the Bank of Japan conducted a questionnaire
survey on people's perceptions of their lives and livelihoods.
The survey targeted 4,000 individuals nationwide over the age of 20,
and valid responses were sent in from 3,138 people (effective response
rate: 78.5%). According to the survey, 80% of workers are concerned
about employment and conditions at work, while about half of all the
respondents--50.7%--felt that they were worse off than the year before.
To be more specific, 83.3% of the workers felt uneasy about employment
and conditions at their place of work, including those who were "slightly"
or "substantially" concerned. A total of 77.3% of the respondents,
moreover, were concerned about the management of the company they
worked for or the business that they operated on their own, including
those who were "slightly" or "substantially" concerned.
Meanwhile, 56.2% of the respondents said that they did not expect
the Japanese economy to grow very sharply over the long term. The
percentage of respondents who feel this way has consistently exceeded
50% since the 1999 survey. On the other hand, the number of people who
felt that "although there may be temporary fluctuations, the Japanese
economy will continue growing over the long term" showed a decreasing
trend. This year, 13.9% of the respondents believed this to be true,
a decrease of 0.6% over the previous survey.
Of particular note are what these respondents cited as reasons for
thinking that the Japanese economy cannot be expected to grow. The
chief reason, according to 56.6% of the respondents, was the aging of
society and shrinking number of children. This was followed by "worsening
financial problems" (47.0%), "delays in deregulation and structural
reforms" (31.7%), "Japan's manufacturing technology losing its
competitive edge" (31.1%), and "problems associated with the financial
system" (29.0%).
(See JLF Vol. 20, Current Topics)
Public Policies
-Wage cuts for municipal government employees-
It is not just the national government that needs to carry out
financial reconstruction. Many municipal governments are also being
affected.
Nagano Governor Yasuo Tanaka drew media attention by declaring that
he would reexamine conventional economic policies that prioritized
large-scale public civil engineering projects, and cease building dams.
This time, Governor Tanaka decided to reduce the basic salary of regular
Nagano Government staff by 8 to 12%, depending on their post, for three
years beginning April 2003. The wage cut included the 2% reduction
that the Prefectural Personnel Committee had already recommended,
and was submitted to the labor union.
The planned cut will apply to about 29,600 employees, including
members of the prefectural police and prefectural board of education.
The Governor will see his own salary cut by 30%, while the Vice Governor,
the Chief Cashier, and three others at high levels will be subject to
a 20% salary reduction. This will help Nagano prefecture save about
13 billion yen each year.
According to the prefectural government, this plan is the most
stringent of all the nine prefectures that are cutting their regular
staff members' salaries. At present, Nagano has debts amounting to
1,500 billion yen.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Tokyo Metropolitan Government Workers'
Unions (with about 76,000 members) planned a 2-hour strike from the
time work started on November 19, protesting wage cuts for Tokyo
Metropolitan Government employees.
The strike was averted just before it was due to begin. Still, in
the context of the lingering recession, there is rising discontent
among public service personnel about the recent round of wage cuts.
(See JLF Vol. 14, Public Policy)
News Clippings
-Labor and management cooperate to set up a day care center for
children-
Hitachi Limited's labor union announced that it would open a day
care center next March for children of the employees of fifteen Hitachi
Group companies. The center will be built inside the union's Labor Hall.
Although a majority of the running expenses will be covered by the
company, the opening of the center is likely to draw attention as a
childcare assistance initiative, since it is to be carried out under
a labor-management cooperation setup.
Hitachi Ltd. has been investigating this project since last year-end,
in the realization that unless they can acquire outstanding employees
regardless of gender, they have no hope of surviving the competition
with other companies. The labor union decided to provide a facility
and also take part in running it. What led to their decision was the
notion that they should become a labor union that proactively meets
their members' demands, instead of merely making demands to the
ompany as it has done in the past.
According to the Japan Institute of Workers' Evolution, an
organization that supports childrearing and nursing care, there have
been instances in which either the company or its labor union have run
a corporate day care center independently. It is extremely unusual for
a labor union and a company to team up and manage a day care center
under a de facto joint management, the Institute said.
(Yomiuri Shimbun, November)
-Wage hikes to halt for employees after a certain age-
With the salary revision of April 2003, Toshiba Corporation will
adopt a system whereby an employee reaching the age of 35 will see a
deferment of his or her pay hikes due to aging.
Under the conventional system, base pay is linked to age, and thus
increases steadily. Although there are individual differences, this
base pay peaks at ages 46 to 51. It is then gradually reduced until
the mandatory retirement age. In contrast, under the new system, base
pay amount will reach its final ceiling at the age of 35. Pay hikes
will be determined at the wage revisions conducted each year, with
any increases decided according to in-house eligibility/requirements
and performance/achievements. The system targets employees ranked
under Section Head. This system was already been introduced in 1997
to employees ranked Section Head and higher.
It is extremely unusual for a large corporation to discontinue the
age-linked system of pay hikes for employees in their 30s.
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, November)
Special Issue
-Japan's reputation as a "safe" country under threat-
The White Paper on Crime, released by the Ministry of Justice in
mid-November, revealed that the number of criminal acts that occurred
in 2001 had broken postwar record for the sixth consecutive year, but
that the rate of arrests has dropped sharply.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2001-2003/2002b/vol.32/whitepaper_crime.html
[What's New!]
We, JIL have published new books in English.
- They are useful for your better understanding of Japan.
"The Labor Situation in Japan 2002/2003"
"Universal Wisdom Through Globalization"
Please open JIL Home Page. You can see the detailed introduction
of them.
http://www.jil.go.jp/epublic/books.htm
