'New Course' in Japanese Trade Unionism
NAOI, TAKEO
Labor reaffirms traditional union goals of improving workers' economic conditions NEW COURSE' IN JAPANESE TRADE UNIONISM By Takeo Naoi TOKYO AFTER DEFEATS in the elections last summer, the...
...As a result of the opposition demands, the following amendment was added to the original policy program: "A trade union is essentially an organization designed to seek improvement of workers' welfare and economic conditions, and protection of workers' rights...
...ZENRO and the minority factions in SOHYO characterized the manifesto as a SOHYO leadership confession of loss of confidence in conducting the leftist political struggle, a maneuver both to quiet unrest in its rank and file and to avoid the brunt of criticism...
...Finally, the leadership accepted all the opposition demands except resigning from SOHYO and rejoining 1CFTU...
...Lectures planned by the Ministry of Education were raided by teachers and other unionists, inviting public accusation that the union's activities were becoming too political...
...Filled with apologies and self-justification, it frankly recognized the past errors of excessive political strife and the unrest caused by the Socialist split...
...Under these circumstances, the two mainstays of SOHYO—KOKURO, with a 351,000 membership, and the Japanese Teachers Union, with 576,000—held their Central Executive Committee meetings in mid-February...
...Iwai and other SOHYO leaders, who were mainly responsible for purging Nishio from the party and calling his group the "enemy," were now ironically pledging to support the new party...
...As a tactic, the group also expressed dissatisfaction with SOHYO's "new course...
...The two-day session was prolonged two days more while day-and-night behind-the-scenes talks were conducted to reach a compromise...
...Nishio thereupon formed the Democratic Socialist party...
...The financial problem of helping fellow unionists is becoming increasingly serious in other big SOHYO unions too...
...This is the ABC of trade unionism, taken for granted in most parts of the world...
...2) make a fundamental switch to a trade unionism which emphasizes economic demands...
...Minority groups in SOHYO have demanded a revision of policy and threatened secession in support of the new Democratic Socialist party...
...That meeting also decided to place more emphasis on economic demands and to give up some of its "extremely political" activities...
...We disagree with this easy method...
...Labor reaffirms traditional union goals of improving workers' economic conditions NEW COURSE' IN JAPANESE TRADE UNIONISM By Takeo Naoi TOKYO AFTER DEFEATS in the elections last summer, the Japanese Socialist party faced an "agonizing reappraisal...
...The convention was called to encourage and aid 15,000 coal miners locked out in Kyushu after a long, dreary strike...
...Though the union's aid fund increased from 100 million yen in 1958 to 180 million in 1959, the additional membership fee for belonging to this fund was increased from one to 15 yen in 1959, and is to be increased to 58 yen this year...
...Union headquarters is threatened by mass resignations and disturbed by increasing default of membership fees at a time when additional funds are necessary to care for the "victims...
...Japanese fashion" or not, trade unionism in the true sense of the term is taking root in Japan and a clearer-cut division of function between political parties and trade-union organizations is being worked out—and the people look forward to the prospect...
...The KOKURO meeting also decided to consider rejoining ICFTU and cooperating with the Democratic Socialist party...
...They therefore invented a new term, "Japanese trade unionism," for a unionism which emphasizes economics but still does not ignore the political aspects of the struggle...
...Thus forced to consider, SOHYO leadership tried to keep the membership in line and avoid a split...
...It is not permissible for it to shirk economic tasks and resort to political campaigns...
...The opposition group, however, was adamant and threatened a split...
...The labor movement should, therefore, be primarily concerned with improving working conditions and achieving workers' economic demands...
...On January 23, Kodosha-Doshikai (the Labor Comrades' Society, a voluntary group inside SOHYO formed by Chairman Ohta...
...and 3) support the new party as well as the old one...
...The manifesto called for an immediate effort to secure better working conditions and firmer organizational unity...
...This is a peculiar Japanese form of trade unionism fundamentally different from ZENRO unionism which simply follows in the footsteps of Western trade unionism," the manifesto declared...
...A proposal was made to collect 600 yen monthly from each union member to help the Kyushu miners...
...The union's struggle was formerly focused on local (city, town and even village) authorities, and accompanied by violence, thus making more "victims...
...Frequently chiefs of local educational committees and even prefectural governors were kept up all night by teachers who demanded "peaceful negotiations...
...From the beginning, the union leadership was ready to compromise, but these demands were too much for them to swallow...
...From the financial viewpoint alone, the Teachers Union cannot continue the pace of the "extremely political" struggle...
...Secretary General Iwai and other leaders of key industrial unions) published a manifesto for the future guidance of the labor movement...
...One of the KOKURO opposition's demands was reduction of the present membership fee...
...We gave the impression of infringing on the political freedom of individual unionists in trying to strengthen political conflict by decision of union executives...
...But SOHYO leaders did not want their new policy to be identified with that of the moderate ZENRO (National Federation of Trade Unions...
...The union's heated struggle against the Government teachers' efficiency rating system during these past years has weakened its organizational structure and resulted in mass resignations in many local unions...
...The emphasis was thus shifted from the political to the economic sphere: "Political parties, not trade unions, should lead the political struggle...
...The nub of the paper was: "Hitherto, there was a strong tendency to substitute general political agitation for difficult union activities in the workshops...
...After heated debate, the proposal was finally adopted, but raising a huge 120 million yen from coal miners, plus another 100 million yen from other unions (some 300 yen per member) is a formidable task for the SOHYO leadership in the face of increasing criticism in their ranks...
...At the KOKURO meeting, the right-wing opposition, a minority with less than 10 per cent of the union's strength, issued several demands, among which were secession from SOHYO, membership in the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (which KOKURO quit in 1953) and equal support for the Democratic Socialist and Socialist parties...
...In leaving the old party, the new one drew up a declaration of secession which emphasized that the Democratic Socialist party would be free of doctrinaire concepts of class struggle and of domination by SOHYO, the extreme Left-wing General Federation of Japanese Trade Unions...
...Entitled "For the Advancement of the Labor Movement," it was in fact a revision of SOHYO policy and was greeted by the press as a "new course...
...The "victims" of the struggle—those disciplined by educational authorities—amount to 3,700, including 60 dismissals, and the union is caring for them, paying their former salaries and benefits...
...Equally significant but not so dramatic was the result of the Teachers Union Committee meeting, convened to outline a policy for the coming months...
...A number of delegates from various mines, including those involved, opposed it, and attacked the self-defeating policy of the union executive...
...We were prone to take over much of the political struggle on behalf of the Socialist party...
...That was followed by intensified intra-party struggles and a subsequent party split in October 1959 in which left-wing party elements forced the right-wing group, under the leadership of Suehiro Nishio, out of the party...
...The same sentiment was apparent in the extraordinary convention of the Coal Miners Union (199,000 members), another SOHYO mainstay, held at the end of February...
...All these circumstances are working toward checking SOHYO's former militancy and making for normalization of labor-management relations...
...SOHYO, sponsor and prime mover of the Japanese Socialist party, continued with the same Left-wing leadership, and now it too seems to be developing a split...
...The opposition is also not happy about helping those who have become "victims" due to the SOHYO leadership's reckless policies...
...That it had to be set down specifically in the policy program of a great Japanese trade union is characteristic of the Japanese labor movement...
...The meetings also decided to consider SOHYO's mistakes in leading the labor movement...
...The Central Committee meeting has now decided to shift the area of negotiations to the Government, and economic rather than political agitation was emphasized at this meeting...
...Both meetings avoided splits by policy changes in accord with the manifesto...
...The manifesto was also an indirect reply to the minority group in KOKURO (the National Railway Workers Union, Iwai's home union), which had lodged demands with both the SOHYO and KOKURO leadership to: 1) repeal the SOHYO presidium statement that the new Socialist party is a "conservative" third party...
Vol. 43 • April 1960 • No. 17
