The 1999 shunto and the restructuring of Japan's wage system

Asian Survey

Volumn 40, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 960-984

  Weathers, Charles ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

HOUSEHOLD INCOME; TRADE UNION; WAGE;

JAPAN;

EID: 0039175976     PISSN: 00044687     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1525/as.1999.39.6.01p0038z     Document Type: Article

References (53)

1. Miriam A. Golden, Heroic Defeat: The Politics of Job Loss (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997).
2. See, for example, Naruse Takeo, "Kozo kaikaku-ka no roshi ga mezasu heki michi" (The road that labor and management must envision under structural reform), Keieisha 613 (February 1998), pp. 42-45, and other articles in that publication, which is the monthly organ of the employers association Nikkeiren.
3. James R. Lincoln and Yoshifumi Nakata, "The Transformation of the Japanese Employment System," Work and Occupations 24:1 (February 1997), p. 49.
4. Nakamura Keisuke and Michio Nitta, "Developments in Industrial Relations and Human Resource Practices in Japan," in Employment Relations in a Changing World Economy, eds. Richard Locke, Thomas Kochan, and Michael Piore (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1995), pp. 326-27.
5. On the mechanisms of shunto, see Mari Sako, "Shunto: The Role of Employer and Union Coordination at the Industry and Inter-sectoral Levels," in Japanese Labour and Management in Transition: Diversity, Flexibility and Participation, eds. Mari Sako and Hiroki Sato (London: Routledge, 1997), pp. 236-64. Participation in shunto, especially for smaller firms, is voluntary, but the process provides valuable information for many firms seeking to determine appropriate wages for their employees, thus saving on transaction costs.
6. Ibid., p. 253.
7. Senior IMF-JC official, author interview, IMF-JC headquarters, Tokyo, June 1999.
8. Bonuses also figure importantly in income differentials. According to Rengo, bonuses at large firms are 2.2 times larger than those at small firms.
9. See editorials by Mori Kazuo in Shukan rodo nyusu (SRN) (Weekly labor news), Janaury 18 and March 1, 1999.
10. Both figures cited in SRN, March 8, 1999.
11. A "zero base-up" means that workers receive no increase in the basic wage, though some would still receive scheduled pay raises and perhaps other allowances.
12. Nikkei, February 21, 1999.
13. Information on pay policies and related issues draws on Rengo, The Spring Struggle for a Better Life: Rengo White Paper, 1999 (Tokyo: Rengo, 1998); and IMF-JC, 99-nen toso no suishin (Advancing the 1999 struggle) (Tokyo: IMF-JC, 1998) as well as interviews with Rengo and IMF-JC officials in Tokyo and Osaka.
14. Information on pay policies and related issues draws on Rengo, The Spring Struggle for a Better Life: Rengo White Paper, 1999 (Tokyo: Rengo, 1998); and IMF-JC, 99-nen toso no suishin (Advancing the 1999 struggle) (Tokyo: IMF-JC, 1998) as well as interviews with Rengo and IMF-JC officials in Tokyo and Osaka.
15. It should be emphasized, however, that there are divisions of opinion and competing leftist and conservative influences within both organizations. Further, all IMF-JC affiliates are Rengo affiliates and many Rengo officials, including President Washio, are from IMF-JC unions.
16. Nikkei, February 11, 1999.
17. Ibid., March 3 and 27, 1999; and Asahi, March 18, 1999.
18. Ibid., March 3 and 27, 1999; and Asahi, March 18, 1999.
19. Nikkei, March 11, 1999, evening edition.
20. Ibid., February 25, 1999; Lincoln and Nakata, "Transformation," pp. 47-49; "98 shunto o do sokatsu suru ka" [How should the 98 shunto be summed up?], Rodo keizai jumpo (Labor economy ten-day report) (June 1998), p. 7. The scheduled raise came under strong pressure during shunto talks by 1998.
21. Ibid., February 25, 1999; Lincoln and Nakata, "Transformation," pp. 47-49; "98 shunto o do sokatsu suru ka" [How should the 98 shunto be summed up?], Rodo keizai jumpo (Labor economy ten-day report) (June 1998), p. 7. The scheduled raise came under strong pressure during shunto talks by 1998.
22. Ibid., February 25, 1999; Lincoln and Nakata, "Transformation," pp. 47-49; "98 shunto o do sokatsu suru ka" [How should the 98 shunto be summed up?], Rodo keizai jumpo (Labor economy ten-day report) (June 1998), p. 7. The scheduled raise came under strong pressure during shunto talks by 1998.
23. Nikkei, March 5, 1999.
24. Ibid., February 11, 1999.
25. For Kamino's comments and those of the Honda Union representatives, see ibid., March 11, 1999. On the concerns of regular union members, see SRN, March 15, 1999.
26. For Kamino's comments and those of the Honda Union representatives, see ibid., March 11, 1999. On the concerns of regular union members, see SRN, March 15, 1999.
27. Nikkei, April 16, 1999. See also ibid., March 17, 1999 (evening edition).
28. Nikkei, April 16, 1999. See also ibid., March 17, 1999 (evening edition).
29. This summary draws on a short statement by the union published in SRN, February 22, 1999.
30. Asahi shinbun, March 3, 1999.
31. Matsushita's experimental wage system revision in 1998 is being closely watched in Japan. The key change is to give employees the option of taking higher monthly wages in lieu of severance pay, partly in order to promote labor mobility.
32. SRN, March 15, 1999.
33. The year 1999 was the first one in which the electronics industry decided on the size of bonuses for the entire year in the spring negotiations. Previously, separate spring and fall bonuses were negotiated. Kansai (Osaka area) and Kanto (Tokyo area) unions differed slightly in their bonus demands, requesting 5.1 months and 5.0 months, respectively. The unions of the four companies adopting performance-based bonuses did not, of course, submit bonus demands.
34. In a February interview, a Hitachi Union official admitted that the union intended to ask for a five-month bonus but really had no idea how large a bonus the company would offer. Nikkei, February 25, 1999.
35. SRN, March 22, 1999; and Asahi shinbun, March 13 and 18, 1999.
36. SRN, March 22, 1999; and Asahi shinbun, March 13 and 18, 1999.
37. Nikkei, March 17, 1999, evening edition.
38. Ibid., March 19, 1999; and SRN, March 22, 1999.
39. Ibid., March 19, 1999; and SRN, March 22, 1999.
40. Senior IMF-JC official, author interview, IMF-JC headquarters, Tokyo, June 1999.
41. Rengo, Spring Struggle, p. 63.
42. Rengo Department of Working Conditions official, author interview, Rengo headquarters, Tokyo, June 1999. Rengo also worked to raise the minimum wage as a means of raising low-end wages, but again with little success.
43. Written sources on the 1999 shunto in smaller firms include SRN, February 15, March 8, April 5 and 12, and May 17, 1999; and Asahi shinbun, March 6, 1999.
44. Written sources on the 1999 shunto in smaller firms include SRN, February 15, March 8, April 5 and 12, and May 17, 1999; and Asahi shinbun, March 6, 1999.
45. SRN, March 22, 1999.
46. Asahi shinbun, March 10, 1999.
47. Ibid., July 7, 1999; SRN, July 19, 1999 (citations from Asahi). Unlike the merit-pay systems used in such sectors as finance, however, Toyota's will not produce especially large wage differentials. The company appears to be moving cautiously in adopting new pay practices. Perhaps the main reason that many Japanese companies still hesitate to implement more sweeping merit-based systems is that they are still largely experimental and managers fear disrupting personnel relations.
48. Ibid., July 7, 1999; SRN, July 19, 1999 (citations from Asahi). Unlike the merit-pay systems used in such sectors as finance, however, Toyota's will not produce especially large wage differentials. The company appears to be moving cautiously in adopting new pay practices. Perhaps the main reason that many Japanese companies still hesitate to implement more sweeping merit-based systems is that they are still largely experimental and managers fear disrupting personnel relations.
49. Ibid., March 10 and 11, 1999. Fujitsu Union has been active in promoting and supporting new merit-based pay systems and other competitiveness-oriented employment practices, but some Electronic Union officials oppose its gung-ho stance.
50. SRN, April 12, 1999.
51. Statistics on bonuses are taken from ibid., April 12, 1999.
52. Senior IMF-JC official, author interview, IMF-JC headquarters, Tokyo, June 1999.
53. Nikkei, February 23, 1999.