Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Japan (Ratification: 1953)

The Committee takes note of the Government’s report as well as its response to the comments made by: the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU, now ITUC – International Trade Union Confederation) dated 10 August 2006; the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC–RENGO) dated 28 August 2006; and the Zentoitsu (All United) Workers’ Union dated 13 December 2005, with regard to issues previously raised by the Committee including anti-union discrimination and the setting of wages in the public service. It also notes the communication by the ITUC dated 27 August 2007 with regard, inter alia, to difficulties in trade union organization and collective bargaining due to the increase in precarious forms of employment and subcontracting, including for migrant workers as well as the comments by JTUC–RENGO dated 13 October 2007. The Committee requests the Government to provide its observations on the latest comments made by the ITUC and JTUC–RENGO.

Article 1 of the Convention. The Committee notes that the comments of the Zentoitsu (All United) Workers’ Union concern a long-standing dispute and court proceedings arising out of the privatization of the Japanese National Railways (JNR) which were taken over by the Japan Railway Companies (JR); they concern in particular, the decision of the JR not to rehire workers belonging to certain organizations which opposed the privatization plan. The Committee notes that in its report the Government indicates that it is not in a position to make comments on the final determination of this issue by the courts. The Committee also notes with interest from the latest communication by the ITUC that the 17‑year dispute and trade union struggle ended in November 2006 with a final agreement which settled 61 outstanding court cases between the parties. The ITUC adds, however, that the last major issue, the reinstatement of the 1,047 Kohuao worker hold-outs, continues to be worked out. The Committee requests the Government to communicate the relevant information in its next report and, in particular, the results of any appeals from the remaining workers or any other developments.

Article 4. 1. Collective bargaining rights of public service employees not engaged in the administration of the State in the context of the civil service reform. The Committee’s previous comments concerned the need for measures to ensure the promotion of collective bargaining for public employees who are not engaged in the administration of the State in the framework of ongoing consultations on the reform of the civil service. The Committee recalls that in the framework of that reform, the National Personnel Authority (NPA), a neutral body which makes recommendations to the Diet and the Government on the revision of remuneration and working conditions of public employees (based on surveys of working conditions in the private sector and taking into account the views of public employees’ organizations), proposed on 15 August 2005, a drastic reform of the whole remuneration system of public employees so as to reflect local private sector wage levels and each employee’s performance.

The Committee notes the comments made by JTUC–RENGO and the ICFTU to the effect that, on 24 December 2005, the Government adopted an “Essential Policy for Administrative Reform” which represented a major switch from the previous policy in that it provided for “frank dialogue and adjustment with the parties concerned” in order to achieve the implementation of a personnel management system based on merit and the fair management of re-employment in the context of reforms of overall employment costs; it also provided for “a broad review of the public service system, including the fundamental labour rights of civil servants and the National Personnel Authority system, the way of setting salaries for civil servants, treatment based on a merit system and performance evaluations, and the career system” taking into account public awareness and progress in reforms of the existing salary system. Based on this policy, a Special Examination Committee was created to examine, inter alia, the proper way of developing industrial relations, including the issue of fundamental labour rights of public employees. Despite this policy, however, according to JTUC–RENGO, during the 2006 revision of the remuneration levels of public employees, the NPA unilaterally modified the index on the basis of which wage levels of public employees are compared to those of the private sector, from one comprising 100 companies to one comprising 50 companies, following instructions from the Government. JTUC–RENGO recalls that the methodology for the evaluation of public employees’ remuneration levels is based on an agreement between the Government and trade union leaders dating back to 1964. The recent unilateral change is according to JTUC–RENGO evidence that the NPA system is not functioning effectively.

The Committee notes that, according to the Government, the NPA, which functions as a compensatory measure for the denial of the right to bargain collectively and to strike in the public sector, undertook, pursuant to a request by Cabinet, a review of the wage index for the determination of public employees’ wage levels – an index which it had established on its own initiative in 1964. The revision took place pursuant to wide discussions in the framework of a conference organized by the NPA with the participation of experts from various fields, as well as interviews of personnel officials in each ministry and employees’ organizations. After having heard the opinions of all sides, the NPA decided to replace the index from one based on 100 enterprises to one based on 50. Moreover, the NPA recommended in August 2006 that the reform of the remuneration structure, which had started in the fiscal year 2006, be promoted, based on the results of fact-finding surveys on the remuneration of public employees. The Government held a total of 39 official meetings with employees’ organizations in 2006 with regard to issues including remuneration. Three of these meetings were held with the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications. Based on these findings, amendments were adopted to the Law concerning the remuneration of regular service employees so as to revise the remuneration as recommended by the NPA.

Taking note of this information, the Committee recalls from previous comments that the capacity of public employees who are not engaged in the administration of the State to participate in the determination of wages is substantially limited and once again requests the Government to examine measures in the context of the current dialogue over the civil service reform, aimed at giving a primary role to collective bargaining so that workers and their organizations may be able to participate fully and meaningfully in designing the overall bargaining framework. The Committee firmly hopes that the Government will be able to report progress in this respect in its next report.

2. Negotiations in national medical institutions. The Committee’s previous comments concerned restrictions over collective bargaining introduced in the context of the transfer of 154 national hospitals and sanatoriums to the National Hospital Organization (NHO), an independent administrative agency, as of 1 April 2004. The Committee takes note of the information provided in the Government’s report to the effect that in the 2004–06 period 268 collective bargaining sessions were held in hospitals (221 sessions between 197 hospitals and the respective branch officers of the All Japan National Medical Workers’ Union, seven sessions between seven blocks of hospitals and trade union district councils and 40 sessions between the headquarters of the NHO and the All Japan National Medical Workers’ Union). Among the items discussed were the promotion of annual leave, reduction of nurses’ nightshifts, the bargaining process, etc. Agreements were reached in 396 cases. The Committee takes note of this information.