61604. :
A London T,U, correspondent has drawn our attention to the follow. ing report which appeared in the Timos,
"Japan's leading industrial employers soem to have lost patience with the annual rounds of wages WHRPS% rocont yoars have been granted almost without demir, At the sane timo, under a new policy announced at the ond of April, the Federation of Smployers' Associations has put forward proposals for improving labour relations within a modernised system of employment,
This year's spring offensive — the weapon. with which the trade unions. back up their annual wago claims - was not a great success, The two main union federations put in claims for increases ranging from 3,000 yen to 6,000 yen (£3 to £6) a month, in addition to the annual increases that are granted semi-autom atically on the basis of length of service, They finally had to accept an average increase of 2,300 yen (£2.68), including the normal annual increase, This barely eovers last year's rise in tho cost of living,
The partial failure of this year's campaign may in the long run prove to be a blessing for the unions, The spring offensive has in recent years become a remarkably inoffensive affair, and this year's . few empty geatures were oven less effective than usual, It has for a long time besn clear that the unions would have to find a new strategy if they were to become a real_forco,
seeeUnion leaders aro beginning to turn their attention to such questions _ as union organisation, minimum wages, and the right to strike; and their failure th. a to gain adequate wage increases this year may well force them to give priority to a objectives, At the moment Japanese trade unions lack some of the fundamental rights essential for any infant labour movement, and they still have to fight battles that British lebour fought in the nineteenth century,
The first reactions to the employers! latest proposals were mixed, Mr. \. Iwai, the seseretary—-general of Sohyo, said that the omployers were trying to revivo old-fashioned control, Zenro, Sohyo's less militant rival, said that it was not to be deceived by mero talk,
eoee0n the political front a crucial debate over the nature of omanised labour will soon come to a head. Tho International Labour Organisation has repenst= sdly urged Japan to ratify I.L.0. Convention 87, which guarantees froedom of assoolation, The unions are also demanding ratificiation of Convention 105, which srohibits forced labour,
The Government is at last making «a serious effort to push ratification through the Diet, bt it is using the debate as an opportunity to make a package” leal involving five controversial labour Bills, Organised labour is already ham strung by legislation introduced under American occupation... If ths new Bills are yecepted, the unions will be weakened still further, The Government wants, cmong _ tthe things: (1) Prohibition of the check-off system for the collection of union ues; (2) Prohibition of full-time union work by employeos; (3) Tighter conditions for union registration; (4) A ban on union membership for Government employees in Wdiministrative posts; is) Transference of control over Gov rnment omployees to the ‘rime Minister"s office; (6) Restriction of issues subject collective bargaininge
These restrictiona would hit Sohyo hard, The existing restrictions on jovernment employees, particularly teachers, have made them thoroughly recalcitrant md it is here that Sohyo's potential strength lies, Sohyo believes that its pos tion would become almost impregnable if Government employoos had the right to ‘trikes,ees. Sohyo and Zenro declared their demands independently, in accordance ith their respective long-term aims of a Burepean wage level and a doubling of rages in 7 years, Zenro more or less withdrew from the battle before it had begun nd even Sohyo had to cancel a number of project strikes.
With this blunt spearhead the unions never had a chance, The employers ad declared in advance that thoy intended to take a tougher attitude this year (ané) upporteé their case with a detailed ona lysia; but it is well known that the emploers are primarily motivated by a fecling that labour-management relations have to 90 (modifiod)..,in preparation for..competition that will come with trade liberalisatio: