Women-only unions in Japan organise women
workers in a variety of ways, including across enterprises and
employment status boundaries. As their appearance is recent an analysis
of their development is also a new area of research. The formation of
autonomous women-only unions in Japan continues a tradition of women's
activism which has challenged both management and the male domination
of the union movement. This article argues that the formation of
women-only unions is a positive development for women workers and the
broader workers' movement.
Introduction
In Osaka in
1990, a group of women workers formed Japan's first broad-based
women-only union Onna
Rōdō Kumiai Kansai (henceforth Onna Kumiai). By 2003 twelve women-only unions had
formed throughout Japan with the largest, Josei Union Tokyo (henceforth Josei Union) with 250 members, forming in 1995 (Josei
Union Tokyo 2003). Unions in a range of countries represent the means
for workers to overcome the imbalance of power industrially and
politically and in Japan, interspersed with their successes, research
indicates that unions have often overlooked, or have been unable to
address issues of importance to, women workers, workers in
non-full-time work, and workers in small businesses (see Kawanishi
1992; Price 1997). This paper explores autonomous women-only unions in
Japan and examines the impact they have had on women workers and the
broader union movement (2).
The recent
development of broad-based women-only unions in Japan, and the small
size of their membership, explains to some extent why little research
is available and why they have gained little attention in English. This
paper draws on interviews held in 2003 and 2004 with officials and
members of two unions: Onna Kumiai and Josei Union, and
my observations at bargaining sessions and union meetings with Josei
Union. I also translated Japanese language materials, including
union documents. By exploring women-only unions in this paper, my focus
is on women workers and women-only unions not as 'passive recipients of
unionizing strategies [but as] women creating unionization' (Murray
2000: 13) and in doing so contributes to dispelling the notion in the
literature on women and unions (Miller and Amano 1995) and in the minds
of some male unionists (Shibata in Funabashi et. al. 1982) that women
workers are passive, docile and uninterested in industrial issues and
union activity.
In the globalised
capitalist economy, as union membership is in decline, union renewal
and revitalisation has emerged as an area of academic interest (IIRA
2000). Studies focus on evaluating the impact of the growth in the
number of professional union officials on union democracy (Bramble
1995), and analysis of unions which have adopted an organising model
(Peetz, Webb & Jones 2002). Studies of the emergence of 'new-type'
unions (Kawanishi 1992), including those aligned with social movement
unions (Lambert 1990), or studies on the role of non-government
organisations (NGOs) focusing on workers (Ford 2003), contribute to a
developing literature examining the organisation of workers across
workplace boundaries whose concerns also extend beyond the workplace
(see Hutchison and Brown 2001). An analysis of women-only unions
contributes to this literature as women-only unions in numerous
countries, including Japan, Korea, India and the US, are focusing on
organising previously non-unionised workers including those in
non-full-time work or employed in the service sector and the informal
economy.
Women and union
organising
Women-only
unions exist in the United States and India, and historically have
existed in a range of countries including Denmark (3), Australia, the United Kingdom, the
United States, Korea, Canada and Ireland with the earliest women-only
unions forming in England and some US states as early as the 1800's (4) (Lewenhak 1977; Foner 1979). At the
height of pre-war union organising in Japan, women union activists in
the 1920s and 1930s adopted a different strategy to that of their
Anglo-Scandanavian sisters. In pre-1945 Japan, women organised and were
active within mixed unions, a strategy known as separate organising.
Although unions were not legally recognised, unions belonging to the
business and government-friendly Yūaikai were tolerated, while those affiliated
with the Japan Communist Party and Japan Socialist Party, like their
party comrades, were not. In the post-1945 period, and following the
legalisation of unions, women workers continued to organise in mixed
unions. However, even a cursory examination of the experiences of women
union activists in mixed unions reveals relationships fraught with
tension. In an attempt to overcome the tension women workers adopted a
range of strategies. Despite opposition from management and
management-friendly male union officials and unionists, women activists
in pre-war Japan successfully lobbied to create women's committees
within mixed unions and the union federations. In the post-war period
women workers also created 'breakaway' unions (Kawanishi 1992; Kumazawa
1996; Price 1997) to overcome patriarchal or paternalistic management
and dislodge union leaderships which had developed too close a
relationship with management. In general these unions were short-lived.
The experience of
women workers in Japan mirrors to some extent the experiences of women
workers in a range of other countries. As discussed, separate
organising (Briskin 1993; 1999) is conceptualised as the creation of
separate women-only structures such as women's committees within mixed
unions. A considerable body of literature analyses the important issue
of women's separate organising (see Cook, Lorwin and Daniels 1984;
Milkman 1985; Soldon 1985; Briskin and McDermott 1993; Hensman 1996;
Elton 1997; Pocock 1997; Mann, Ledwith and Colgan 1997; Tshoaedi 2002),
which I will not discuss in this paper, but findings from a number of
studies suggest separate organising has had a mixed impact. Briskin
argues separate organising 'has challenged not only male domination of
unions' but a range of practices which exclude women (1999: 546), a
view echoed in Tshoaedi's research in South Africa (2002) where an
informant argued 'without these structures [women's departments]
women's issues were already marginalized to the extent that they
[women's issues] were not put on any union agenda' (2002: 224). Gandhi
(1996), Hensman (1996), Elton (1997) and Pocock (1997) however,
acknowledge that there are limitations for women working only within
union structures because of the reluctance of male-dominated unions to
address issues beyond the workplace such as the sexual division of
labour (Hensman 1996: 201).
Autonomous
organising
Briskin
differentiates autonomous organising or separatism from separate
organising, identifying separatism 'as a goal – an end in itself, . . .
[which] often identifies building alternative communities as a
solution.' (Briskin 1999: 545) but in my research I use the term
autonomous organising to refer specifically to the creation of
women-only unions. As early as the 1800s women workers organised
autonomous women-only unions in Australia, the UK, the US, Ireland and
Denmark essentially to counteract and overcome the separatism practised
by the largely male-dominated craft-based unions which excluded women,
migrant and other unskilled workers. Few of the early women-only unions
survived, as they either dissolved or were absorbed into existing male
unions (Ryan 1984: 37; WTULC Collection [no date]; WTUL [no date]). In
the 1970s a second wave of women-only unions formed in Canada
(5),
the US and Ahmedabad in India, which continue to develop, and have been
joined by a third wave of women-only unions in Japan, Korea and in
Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu (6)
(Mody 2005: 13).
In assessing the
early women-only unions in Europe and the US, writers such as Clara
Zetkin, Eleanor Marx and Alexandra Kollontai criticised them for their
negative effect on the nascent socialist movement. Clara Zetkin, leader
of the German socialist women workers' movement in 1895 observed that
the early women-only unions in Germany were 'bourgeois feminist' (cited
in Cliff 1984: 74) and refused to co-operate with them despite at times
the similarity of their goals. She argued that joint action with the
women-only unions 'could not lead to real action, but would lead to a
blunting of the sharp edge of socialist policy' (cited in Cliff 1984:
74). Eleanor Marx, when speaking of the poor conditions of American
women workers, observed that there was a need for a women's organisation[
(7),
but 'not as a separate body but as part of the greater social movement'
(Kapp 1976: 166). For Alexandra Kollontai, 'any separation on the basis
of sex is artificial; it runs absolutely counter to the interests of
the worker and can only damage the immediate aims of the trade union
struggle' (1918: 27). Yamakawa Kikue, one of Japan's leading socialist
feminists active from the 1920s and, like Marx, recognised the need for
women workers to organise but her analysis differed. She successfully
argued for the establishment of women's committees within the union
movement. In the face of strong opposition from male unionists,
Yamakawa argued that because Japanese society of the 1920s was
organised on the basis of 'bourgeois principles' it was necessary for
the workers movements to support 'women's special demands' in order for
women to overcome discrimination (Mackie 1997: 106-107).
In analysing the
creation of the women-only union 9 to 5, in the US, Milkman argues
women-only unions provide a link between feminism and unionism,
introducing women to the operation and functioning of unions, as well
as organising women excluded from existing mixed unions. Milkman
concludes that in the US the creation of a women-only union saw the
development of an organisational form 'which implicitly challenge[d]
the established traditions of the labor movement while also working to
expand the space of women within it' (1985: 310). The focus of
Milkman's research, 9 to 5, forged close links with the mainstream
mixed union movement becoming the Service Employees International Union
(SEIU) District 925 where it became the vehicle for 'unionizing
unorganized women clerical workers all over the US' (Milkman 1985:
315). Milkman concluded that the challenge for this women-only union in
having links with the mainstream union movement is 'to preserve its
distinctive vision and approach to organizing' (1985: 317). As an
organiser with the Construction Workers Union in Chennai, and now
assisting in the organisation of a women-only union in this industry,
Mody sees women-only unions as fulfilling an important role for women
workers because ' . . . trade unions see her [women workers] need to
fight for her economic betterment, [but] they usually ignore her social
responsibilities . . .' (2005: 13). She argues that working class men
see women and women's empowerment, especially women in low paid and
'unorganised' sectors of employment, in the same way as the legal
system, the media and other structures which control women's lives
(Mody 2005: 13). Briskin acknowledges 'In the union context . .
.[separate organising] has helped to improve women's self-esteem and
confidence, develop their assertiveness, and train them in union
procedures', but adds that autonomous organising 'faces a different set
of constraints, including the fact that it is not institutionally
located and may have very limited access to resources.' (1999: 544).
Briskin (1999) suggests this dilemma could be overcome by creating
women's committees which maintain a balance between integrating with
the mixed union movement and complete autonomy of purpose. While
acknowledging financial insecurity is an issue for women-only unions in
Japan, I argue Briskin's solution of integration with autonomy is not
an appropriate solution for women workers in contemporary Japan. The
exclusive nature of the majority of enterprise-based unions and their
inability/unwillingness hitherto to address issues of concern for women
workers requires women workers to look at adopting alternative
strategies.
Women's work in
the
Japanese labour market
Ōsawa defines Japan
as a 'corporate-centred society' organised and structured around large
private companies and the role of women is to maintain the family:
'while men work heart and soul for the company, women must do the same
at home to ensure men can continue to do so' (Ōsawa 1995: 249).
Although from 1963 to 1986 social welfare policies encouraged women to
enter the paid workforce, there was no corresponding increase in the
provision of facilities or services, such as childcare. Legislation
such as the Working Women's Welfare Law emphasised the need to help
women 'harmonise' domestic and paid work responsibilities, while
assuming that men did not have this same need (Uno 1993: 305). Japan's
contemporary gender contract expresses the sex-based division of labour
as 'otoko wa shigoto, onna wa katei'[(8)
('men have jobs, women have the household'). Reflecting more recent
changes in the roles of women, the expression has been amended to '. .
. onna wa katei to shigoto' (' . . . women have the household
and a job') in recognition of the growing number of women working
part-time and their indispensability as a flexible complement to the
male full-time workforce.
Japan's labour
market
however, remains highly gender segmented. The proportion of women in
management has increased only slightly since 1992, but overall women
are still concentrated in lower levels of management. In 1995 women
comprised 7.3 percent (6.4 percent in 1992) of kakarichō (lower
level managers), 2 percent (1992 - 2.3) of kachō (section head)
and 1.5 (1992 - 1.2) percent of buchō (department head)
positions (Rōdōshō 1996: 30-1). Approximately forty percent of women
workers are employed in non-full-time employment with the majority of
women employed in non-union service sector occupations. Of the
non-full-time workforce, women are also disproportionately employed as
part-time workers. In 2002 almost one-third of women part-time workers
worked more than 35 hours per week (Kōsei Rōdōshō 2003a: 23), a work
pattern which excludes them from coverage by the Part-time Workers Law.
Japanese women have
always been employed as non-full-time workers but their representation
in part-time work increased fourfold from 8.9 percent in 1960 to 32.5
percent in 1994 while the number of men employed in non-full-time work
doubled to 10.5 percent during the same period. In 2002 69 percent of
women workers worked less than 35 hours per week, with the majority
working in the largely non-unionised service sector occupations (Kōsei
Rōdōshō 2003a: 23). There has been growth in part-time and dispatch or
agency work (hakken rōdō) but the accompanying legislation has
contributed little to protecting workers rights. In 1993 the Part-time
Workers Law was introduced but as its definition of part-time focuses
on the number of hours worked per week (35), it excludes from coverage
part-time workers working in excess of 35 hours per week (see Broadbent
2003).
Unions in Japan
When assessing the
creation and impact of contemporary women-only unions in Japan it is
important to understand the broader workers' movement. In 1997
enterprise-based unions comprised 95.6 percent of union organisations
(Araki 2002: 165) and the majority are concentrated in large companies
focusing on issues important to their overwhelmingly male full-time
membership (Kawanishi 1992). Total union membership in Japan is in
decline, and fell to 19.2 percent in 2004 (Kōsei Rōdōshō 2004) and the
proportion of women unionised was 17 percent in 1997. Unionisation of
non-full-time workers is rumoured to stand as low as 2.7 percent (9).
Given the low
levels
of union membership for women workers in Japan it is to be expected
that their representation on union committees would also be low. In
2000 women represented only 6.6 percent (10)
of members on the executive committee of Rengō (Japanese Trade
Union Confederation), Japan's
largest national peak labour organisation. Rengō has stated it
is pursuing a policy of increasing the number of women on committees or
within union structures (Rengō International Division 2002: 52).
One impact of women worker's low levels of union membership and
consequently representation on union committees is the difficulty of
having issues such as the gender wage gap (11),
discriminatory employment conditions and sexual harassment addressed
within broader union agendas.
The rise of
enterprise unionism
Prior to legal
recognition unions, except for those acceptable to the government and
business friendly, were subject to constant harassment by the forces of
the state. After legal recognition union membership, numbers of unions
and levels of industrial activity in Japan exploded, however shifts in
US political priorities and the fostering of rightwing elements in the
union movements quickly led to the destruction of militant
worker-centred industrial unions. Enterprise unionism, a form of
unionism strongest in large companies in the private sector, was
encouraged (Moore 1983; Kawanishi 1992; Price 1997).
The dominance of
enterprise-based unions in the private sector has been strengthened by
the arbitrary adherence to aspects of the Trade Union Law. Under the
Law unions are permitted to restrict their membership to full-time
workers within the company (Araki 2002: 169). Given unionisation rates
for part-time workers is estimated at 2.7 percent it appears the
majority of management and enterprise unions have adhered to this
clause. The impact of restricting union membership based on employment
status combined with compulsory unionism for full-time employees of the
company, has been the creation of divisions within the workplace based
on employment status (Broadbent 2003). The growth in the non-full-time
workforce has lead to some unions representing less than 50 percent of
the company's workforce. To counter the representation gap, some unions
have negotiated with management to unionise segments of the part-time
workforce (Broadbent 2003)(12).
In addition the agreement with, or imposition by, management of a 'one
union, one workplace' policy in some workplaces has sidelined militant
unions (Kawanishi 1992; Price 1997). Japan's Trade Union Law permits
multiple unions in a single company (Araki 2002: 162) but agreements
which recognise 'one union, one workplace (13)
have appeared as the history of Japan's post-war union movement
provides examples of what are called 'second' or 'breakaway' unions
encouraged by management to crush militant unions or in particular by
women to overcome patriarchal control (Kawanishi 1992; Price 1997;
Kawanishi 1999). Initially 'second' unions were encouraged by
management to weaken the influence of militant unions (Kawanishi 1992;
Price 1997; Kawanishi 1999), resulting in the management sponsored
enterprise union becoming the 'first' union, but there are examples of
workers forming a 'second' independent union (Price 1997: 114,
148-149). The restriction imposed by 'one union, one workplace'
combined with enterprise unions' restricting membership to full-time
workers has had, and continues to have, significant implications for a
range of workers. As mentioned the growing numbers of non-full-time
workers such as part-time, temporary and agency workers, the majority
of whom are women, are excluded from representation by the union at
their workplace. A number of unions organising beyond the enterprise
framework have appeared since the 1980s such as community unions and
the various unions organising part-time workers, older workers
(Kawanishi 1992) and women-only unions (14 ).
In addition, the majority of small workplaces remain non-unionised,
which further emphasises the weakness of enterprise-based unions for
employees even though Japan's Trade Union Law allows a union to be
created with only two employees (Araki 2002: 161).
Despite the tension
women workers experience in their relations with contemporary
enterprise unions, their officials display less overtly paternalistic
attitudes to women workers compared with pre-war attitudes when women
workers were considered children or future brides rather than
co-workers (Mackie 1997: 117)(15).
Attitudinal changes aside, enterprise unions in Japan have often
accepted lower wages and inferior conditions for women workers in order
to protect (and extract better) the wages and conditions of their core
male membership. Their acceptance of practices discriminating against
women including sex-based pay systems and forced retirement on marriage
or childbirth, now a contravention of the Equal Employment Opportunity
Law (EEOL), acted to 'soften the impact of ability-based assessment and
promotion policies upon career male employees' (Kumazawa 1996: 191).
The gendered composition of the union leadership and the structure of
enterprise unions have also had a significant impact on the ability of
unions to address the demands of even their 'core' members (Broadbent
2003).
The dominant
enterprise-based unions have co-operated in management's artificially
created divisions between workers, resulting in a weakening of
solidarity with workers defined by management as 'outside' the company
such as part-time workers and contract workers and with workers in
other companies who are seen as competitors. One consequence for the
union movement of accepting or capitulating to what might be described
as management's 'divide and conquer' strategy towards workers 'outside'
the company, has been, with exceptions(16),
the inability to unionise the growing number of non-full-time workers,
the majority of whom are women(17).
The continuous decline in union membership in Japan(18)
is also reflected in the small percentage of women workers who are
union members. In 1997 only 17 percent of women workers were union
members (Takashima 1997: 4) and the unionisation rate for non-full-time
workers is estimated at only two percent(19).
Additionally, while
there are and have been exceptions, the union movement has accepted, or
at least not opposed, the dominant ideology that the proper role for
women is as 'good wives and wise mothers' despite statistics suggesting
that women have represented approximately 40 percent of the paid
workforce since the early 1960s (Kōsei Rōdōshō 2003a: appendix 7). The
acceptance of the 'good wife, wise mother' ideology has prevented
unions from addressing for example the persistent gender pay gap where
women in Japan earn 60 percent of a male wage, less if part-time
workers are included (Brinton 2001: 16). In the 1950s when employers,
with the support of the unions, restructured Japan's so-called lifetime
employment system and created a 'gender-specific escape route'
(Kumazawa 1996: 167) women workers were removed from jobs in
competition with male workers and into low-status roles and insecure
employment, the impact of which persists to the present(20)
(see Kumazawa 1996; Price 1997; Arita 2005). In Japan women have gone
outside the union movement and turned to the courts to address issues
such as the gender pay gap and discriminatory promotion policies.
Recent judicial decisions have had mixed outcomes as some have not
accepted that the company's practices were discriminatory, further
frustrating women's attempts to achieve equal wages and conditions to
their male co-workers (Arita 2005).
I acknowledge the
concern that the creation of autonomous women-only unions could dilute
and weaken the broader workers' movement but women activists and
workers in Japan created women-only unions to overcome the tensions
presented by patriarchy and capitalism. The existence of women-only
unions questions the hierarchical structure and validity of unions
being solely controlled by men (Onna Kumiai & Josei
Union interviews October 2003) and address issues arising for women
workers which are either overlooked or unable to be addressed by mixed
unions. To echo Milkman's observations, women-only unions are 'challeng
[ing] the established traditions of the labor movement while also
working to expand the space of women within it' (1985: 310) in order to
fill the representation gap which has emerged for women (and ultimately
all workers) who are excluded from enterprise-based unions. I would
argue that for women workers in Japan it has been necessary to create
autonomous women-only unions as the structure of Japan's union movement
and its domination by enterprise-based unions in large companies, which
practise their own form of separatism, has created a union culture
which discriminates against all but full-time workers. Women-only
unions have and do co-operate in lobbying and campaigning with the
mixed union movement. Josei Union indicated that in the future
when union movements are sensitive to the issues facing women workers
and active in pursuing these issues, then women-only unions may
amalgamate with mixed unions (interview 2003), following the strategy
of Kvindeligt Arbejderforbund I Danmark (KAD), the Danish
women-only union, which amalgamated with the Danish National General
Workers Union in 2004.
Autonomous
women-only
unions in Japan
have achieved important gains for women workers, individually and
collectively, in the areas of employment conditions and wages and
provide opportunities women to gain knowledge of employment rights and
industrial legislation as well as important skills in resolving
industrial issues. More broadly they have raised awareness about the
employment conditions of women workers and non-full-time workers. The
creation of women-only unions allows women to develop policies and
practices which address issues women have identified as important and
by operating separately from mainstream unions may have a
transformative effect on the culture and operation of the broader
workers movement. This is not to say their existence is without
difficulties because financial precariousness is the price paid for
autonomy, by Josei Union and Onna Kumiai, the issue
Briskin identifies in her research of women-only unions in North
America and Western Europe (1999: 544).
Women and unions –
A
brief herstory
Women have been
blamed for not being
active or interested in workplace issues because they do not show 'a
strong interest in union representation' (Miller and Amano 1995: 45).
By locating the problem with women, unions avoid addressing their own
organisational and structural problems, with union officials using the
excuse that 'part-time workers don't want to join unions' to justify
their own inactivity (Shibata in Funabashi et al. 1982: 34).
Compounding this problem is the lack of research conducted on women's
contributions to union activism and organisation. Pocock argues women
activists in Australia's union movement 'suffer from the absence of a
well-established, written tradition' (1997: 3) and I would argue women
activists in Japan suffer a similar fate.
The
English-language
literature on women and unions in Japan (and herstory) remains
scattered. When unions formed in Japan in the early 20th century, they
were illegal and remained so until the ratification of the Trade Union
Law in 1947. Since those early days, women in Japan have made valuable
contributions to Japan's history of industrial activity and been
significant actors in the union movement (Sievers 1983; Suzuki 1989,
1991, 1994; Tsurumi 1991; Turner 1995; Mackie 1997; Broadbent 2003).
Women textile workers organised boycotts and walkouts in an attempt to
force company owners to take responsibility for improving living and
working conditions with the women refusing to return to work until
their demands had been met. Women in a range of industries were also
actively involved in industrial struggles in the post-WWII period
including the bus conductors strike and the strike at the Omi Kenshi
silk mill which lasted 106 days.
Women workers in
Japan conducted, or were at the forefront in organising strikes in the
pre and post-war period. However, recently a number of cases
highlighting discriminatory employment conditions and workplace related
sexual harassment have been fought through the legal system because the
unions either wouldn't or couldn't address their concerns. Although
Article 14 of the post-war constitution states no-one is to be
discriminated against on the basis of sex (among other criteria) and
despite achieving significant gains addressing workplace
discrimination, women continue to struggle against a division of labour
based on sex, a gender pay gap, discriminatory employment conditions
and sexual harassment. In addition, ideological splits in the union
movement and constant harassment of union leaders compounded the
difficulties for women attempting to establish a women workers'
movement within the union movement. As part of their struggle, women
workers and activists in Japan argued it was necessary to create
women's committees to mobilise women workers and they were successful
despite intense opposition from male unionists.
Women first had a
formal role in the union movement when a women's bureau was created in
1917 within Japan's first union, the Yūaikai (Friendship
Association) a government and business-friendly organisation. Women
activists were restricted by male/patriarchal constraints as Fujinbu
activities concentrated on publishing a newsletter and journal
organising gatherings for discussion (Suzuki 1991: 44). The combined
impact of conflict with the male union leadership, the defeat of the
1920 strike at the Fuji Gas Spinning Factory, and factional splits in
the union in 1919 and again in 1925 and 1926, weakened Yūaikai's
Fujinbu (Mackie 1997: 110). Women's committees in the unions
affiliated with the newly formed Hyōgikai, (Nihon Rōdō
Kumiai Hyōgikai, or Japan Labour Unions Council), which had split
from Yūaikai and was affiliated with the Japan Communist Party,
demanded the creation of a women's committee in 1925 to address issues
including a six day working day for women, prohibition of night work
and abolition of the sex-based wage gap. Opposition to the creation of
a separate women's committee claimed a separate committee for women
would obstruct the development of class consciousness, that women's
issues were not union issues and that the union's organisational
structure would become overly complex. The women's proposal was finally
passed at the 1927 annual convention (Mackie 1997: 111-113). Opposition
to the existence of a women's bureau and the place of 'women's issues'
generally within the union movement had to be renegotiated after each
split and finally led to the development of a separate women's
organisation, the Fujin Dōmei (Women's League) in 1927. In
1936 Sōdōmei
(Nihon Rōdō Sōdōmei – Japan General Federation of Labour) established a
women's department headed by Akamatsu Tsuneko but at regional levels
the executives and committees were headed by men (Suzuki 1998: 293).
Article 28 of
Japan's
post-war Constitution (1946) guarantees workers the right to organise,
bargain and act collectively (Araki 2002: 159) and effectively granted
unions legal recognition. Union formation was explosive and women's
committees formed in a number of these unions. In November 1945 when
the Osaka Kōtsu Rōdō Kumiai (Transport Workers Union) was
established, a women's department was created simultaneously. Katsura
Ayako, a union activist since her employment as a bus conductor in the
1930s, headed the department and filled the role of union organiser at
a time when there were few unions with women organisers (Goka 2002:
74-5)(21).
The Zentsu Fujinbu (Postal Workers Women's Committee)
formed in June 1946 and was significant in the early post-war women
worker's movement. After the formation in 1950 of the public sector
union dominated Sōhyō (General Council of Trade Unions of
Japan), the Fujin Kyōgikai (Women's Council) formed in 1952
grouping together women's committees of the industrial federations
affiliated with Sōhyō and held its first general meeting in
January 1953. Its demands focused on the struggle to protect
livelihoods, to create better workplaces and to maintain peace (Suzuki
1994: 79-80). Of the public sector unions, women workers employed in
the Post Office and as teachers were most successful in their struggles
as they demanded the revision of the discriminatory treatment between
women and men specifically in terms of employment security and the
protection of working conditions, especially guaranteed salary
increases.
Women in the
private
sector also continued to demonstrate their resistance to abuses of
their human rights and discriminatory working conditions. The Omi
Kenshi silk mill strike in 1954 lasted 106 days. While the workplace
was unionised the union had close ties to management. In May 1954 20
employees formed a new union which became the centre of the struggle.
The workers created an independent union which they used to challenge
the paternalism and patriarchal management style (Price 1997: 119). The
strikers' demands included abolition of the enforced practice of
Buddhism, abolition of compulsory dormitory residence, opposition to
opening of workers' personal mail and restrictions on leaving company
premises in leisure time (Suzuki 1994: 90).
A second example of
women workers creating independent unions involves silk workers in
1957. The workers of Yamago initiated unionisation of the workplace but
the union was dominated by men who developed close ties with
management. When a group of young women planned to organise a second
independent union, the company locked the women out of the dormitory
and attempted to break the union. The two unions co-existed until 1960
when they amalgamated, but the 'second' union did force the
company-recognised union to address some of the issues it raised (Price
1997: 148-149). In 1958 women factory workers struck for 64 days and
successfully overturned the company's ruling which forced women to quit
work on marriage (Goka 2002).
In 1971 women
formed
a breakaway union in the Nihon Shintaku Ginkō in protest over
the male dominated enterprise union's agreement with management. The
agreement involved introducing a system of promotion based on
qualifications, which would then have an impact on wage rates, at a
time when even women with considerable years of service were
over-represented at lower levels. The women-only union was able to
effect some changes but the company circumvented their claims by
redefining the promotion criteria to include possession of managerial
experience. Male workers continued to be promoted faster as women
workers were denied access to the managerial positions necessary to
gain experience (Kumazawa 1994: 280-81). Women are further
disadvantaged by conservative legal decisions handed down recently,
including the Sumitomo Denko case (2001) and the Sumitomo Chemical case
(2002), which ruled that the social values of the 1960s, when the women
were hired, strongly supported the sexual division of labour and so the
decision did not consider/recognise the company's practice of paying
women less than men as discriminatory (Tokyoto Sangyō Rōdō Kyoku 2003:
183).
In the post-war period women's participation in Japan's union hierarchy
has slowly increased through their election as workplace delegates,
appointment to union executives or councils and their election or
appointment to full-time official positions, but representation is
still low compared with the rate of union membership. In 1998 there
were on average 1.6 women serving on a union executive comprised of 10
members. The highest representations of women were in the service
sector unions (3.7) and financial services and insurance unions (4.1).
The lowest were transport and communications (0.4) (Nihon Fujin Dantai
Rengo Kai 2000: 41). As mentioned earlier, Rengō had women
representing only 6.6 percent of its executive committee members in
2000 (Rengō, International Division 2002: 52), but it is presently
pursuing a policy of increasing the number of women on committees or
within union structures. Each of the peak labour organisations and
industrial federations has a women's department but it is rare for
enterprise unions in Japan to have a dedicated 'women's department'.
Overview of
women-only unions
The following
analysis focuses on exploring the roles of women-only unions and their
impact on women workers and the broader union movement. Women-only
unions in Japan resemble general unions. Women-only unions, unlike
their international sisters but resembling their Korean sisters, are
considered 'second' unions by employers which restricts their ability
to organise a competing union and therefore conduct collective
bargaining.
There are twelve
women-only unions in Japan but this paper concentrates on two: the
largest Josei Union and the first Onna Kumiai. Onna
Kumiai and the other ten women-only unions organise between 40 and
70 members and are run by volunteers (interview August 2002; October
2003). The twelve women-only unions in Japan form a loose coalition
largely because many of the members are known to each other through
their unions and other venues for activism. A stated future goal of the
unions is to expand their membership and create a national and
ultimately international network(22)
(interviews August 2002). The women-only unions are not affiliated with
any peak national union organisation but have established connections
and co-operate with Rengō's Gender Equality Department (Japan
Trade Union Confederation) and they have also co-operated with
international organisations. One example is the case involving a sexual
harassment claim against Mitsubishi in the US where the union met with
representatives from the National Organisation of Women during a visit
to Japan (Josei Union Tokyo 1999: 25). The aims of Onna Kumiai
and Josei Union include supporting and improving the working
conditions of union members, aiming for the abolition of sex
discrimination and gaining women's industrial rights, working to gain
equal pay for work of equal value, the advancement of the social status
of women and establishing networks with women's struggles
internationally (Josei Union 2003).
Onna Kumiai
was formed by former women workers at the Japan National Railway
(JNR)(23)
because they felt betrayed by their union. They started to question the
hierarchical structure of unions and the validity of unions being
solely controlled by men (interviews October 2002); they 'lost hope' in
unions because of the in-fighting and the 'poverty of ideas and
direction' of the union movement because it is male-dominated and
'organisational (bureaucratic)' (interviews November 2002; October
2003). Josei Union is Japan's largest women-only union with 250
members and employs two full-time paid organisers. Josei Union
was formed in 1995, by two women formerly employed in the Women's
Department of the National General Workers Union. Harassment from male
union officials however, over their focus on 'women's issues',
convinced them of the need to form an autonomous union in February
2002. Women active in both unions believed women needed to take charge
of their own unions to provide the avenue to resolve issues such as the
sexual division of labour, discriminatory employment conditions, sexual
harassment and sexual violence in the workplace, issues which are
generally ignored by mainstream unions because they are not considered
'union issues' or 'employment issues' but 'women's issues'.
1. Membership
Women-only unions
in
Japan organise predominantly on an individual basis, although Josei
Union includes members who have organised workplace branches.
Workers organised include those who are not traditionally the focus of
the enterprise-based mixed union movements such as workers employed in
non-full-time employment, in the service sector and in non-unionised
small enterprises. Both Onna Kumiai and Josei Union are
small and membership numbers are either stagnating or declining.
Membership in more than one union is not permitted in Japan, and only
one of Onna Kumiai's members is no longer affiliated with her
workplace enterprise union, an action I will discuss later. Other
members belong to their workplace union as well as to Onna Kumiai
despite enterprise unions prohibiting dual membership. Josei Union
has a larger and more diverse membership than Onna Kumiai but
its membership is not increasing. Numerically the service industries
(37 percent) and manufacturing (22 percent) are the highest proportion
of members. Occupations include clerical (48 percent) and
specialist/technical workers (22 percent) while 68 percent of members
are employed full-time, 12 percent are part-time and the remainder are
a mix of contract and temporary workers (Josei Union Tokyo 2002: 39).
Full-time members are often employed in small companies where there is
no enterprise union and so join Josei Union to gain some union
coverage. Limited financial and personnel resources restrict
recruitment which for both unions depends on media coverage and word of
mouth. Both unions' financial resources are gained through membership
dues, subscriptions from supporters, sales of literature and
fundraising activities.
2.
Organisation/structure
Women-only unions
in
Japan resemble general unions as they organise workers across
workplace, employment status and occupational boundaries. Onna
Kumiai and Josei Union, while differing in size, are
structurally similar in that they both have a committee that oversees
the running of the union as well as a number of smaller committees
overseeing the publication of materials, organisation of activities,
recruiting and education. Both are run by an executive committee,
elected by and from the membership, and hold annual general meetings
and monthly case study meetings to inform members of the progress of
cases. Josei Union emphasises that the union is 'by women, for
women' (2002: 2) and expresses its philosophy in the belief that 'anata
no mondai wa jibun de yatte moraimasu' (Literally: resolving your
issue by yourself). Depending on the issue the member is facing, this
can involve dealing with the paperwork or conducting negotiations with
the guidance of a union organiser.
3.
Services/activities
Unlike
'traditional'
notions of unions, women-only unions in Japan rarely conduct any
bargaining, let alone collective bargaining. Josei Union is the
only one of Japan's women-only unions to conduct collective bargaining
(albeit in only a number of cases). Negotiations are conducted by the
member(s) with a union organiser and sometimes with other union members
present(24).
The majority of cases negotiated by Josei Union are conducted
on an individual basis.
Onna Kumiai
and Josei Union run telephone counselling/advisory services and
deal with issues associated with non-standard employment, especially in
the environment of workplace restructuring, problems of ageing workers,
sexual harassment and unfair dismissal.
Women-only unions
focus on education and solidarity activities for activists, members and
non-members, as well as holding much needed fundraising activities. Josei
Union holds workshops and seminars, and there have been
opportunities for co-operation between women-only unions in Japan and
Korea. In 1999 Josei Union participated in a fact-finding
workshop with members from the newly formed SWTU to gain insights into
the formation of a women-only union. In June 2005 Josei Union
activists participated in a study tour/workshop in Korea organised by
KWTU which brought together women union (and other) activists from a
range of countries in the Asian region over 4 days to discuss and
workshop organising strategies and build solidarity. Josei Union
maintains a website and publishes Fight! a monthly newsletter
to inform about current issues such as proposed legislation reforms and
their implications for women and progress on current cases. Josei
Union holds regular seasonal events to foster solidarity such as
cherry blossom viewing, beer parties and trips to hot springs in
summer.
Discussion
Impact of
women-only unions
In Japan the
grievances faced by women workers are largely the result of
restructuring and employers' desires for more flexible workforces.
Women-only unions benefit women by providing a collective voice and an
accessible introduction to unionism for a workforce largely excluded
and overlooked. By creating autonomous women-only unions, women workers
in Japan have not only created separate spaces for women separate from
male workers but have also attempted to create unions distant from the
bureaucratic and hierarchical practices of many mixed unions (Briskin
1999: 546). This approach differs from the service delivery model
(Peetz, Webb & Jones 2002: 86-87) which many mainstream mixed
unions in Japan (and elsewhere) have adopted because the organising
model focuses on 'empowering workers . . . [to] enable them to find
solutions to their problems. The emphasis is on developing measures
that will promote activism amongst members . . .' (Peetz, Webb &
Jones 2002: 87).
Josei Union
and Onna Kumiai are registered unions, but only Josei Union
conducts collective bargaining. Ranking the issues Josei Union
dealt with in 2002 by the number of cases, unfair dismissal (88),
sexual harassment (86) and bullying (86) topped the list (Josei Union
Tokyo 2003a: 8), but the union notes that for 2002 there was an
increase in cases regarding non-standard employment contracts (72
cases, an increase of 25 from 2001), sexual harassment (86, an increase
of 20 cases) and occupational illness (52 cases, an increase of 20).
The union attributes the increase to the worsening economic environment
and the negative impact of restructuring on workplace relations.
1. Resolution
of
grievances
Josei Union
has assisted in securing financial settlements for members, which is
not always a satisfactory outcome given the tight job market for women,
particularly older women. In one case, five years back-pay for unpaid
overtime and an apology from the section chief were gained when a
temporary employee was sacked because she was told the job was fixed
tenure (5 years) with an upper age limit, which she exceeded, and which
precluded her from being rehired in the position (Josei Union Tokyo
2003b: 11). A second involves an employee hired in 1997 as a part-time
worker on a series of renewable six-month contracts. In 2001 the
renewal period was reduced to three months and in August of 2001 the
employee was told the contract had been terminated. After negotiation,
the company agreed on a financial settlement, and the member involved
found alternative employment (Josei Union Tokyo 2003c: 11).
Grievances dealt
with
by women-only unions are generally resolved on an individual basis, but
there have been collective outcomes from individual bargaining. Josei
Union negotiated for an employee over working time/paid holiday
entitlements. During the negotiations other employees became aware of
their entitlements and the claim was broadened, including more
employees and claims for payment of overtime wages. Negotiations over
employment conditions where the company had breached the Labour
Standards Law resulted in the company developing more appropriate work
rules (Josei Union Tokyo 2003b; interviews October 2003 & June
2004).
2. Campaigns on
broader issues
Two of Onna
Kumiai's
members have been involved for more than ten years in court actions to
address issues of unfair dismissal, non-payment of retrenchment pay and
wage discrimination on the basis of gender (interview 2003). Onna
Kumiai has been instrumental in supporting the on-going struggle of
members formerly employed by JNR in their legal battle for recognition
over unfair dismissal and non-payment of wages, as well as that of a
member employed by the Kyoto Gas Company. The case of Yakabi Fumiko
(Kyoto Gas) has been upheld by both the Osaka District and High Courts
in the face of the employer's challenge and is awaiting the outcome of
the employer's appeal to the Supreme Court (interview 2003). Both
campaigns address broader issues for women workers, and positive
outcomes will establish outcomes significant for women suffering
experiencing similar discrimination.
Impact on the
broader union movement
1. Campaigns
Women-only unions
in
Japan, like their sisters internationally, lobby governments and focus
on issues of discriminatory pay and employment practices, equal
employment conditions for non-full-time workers, social insurance for
unemployed workers, maternity protection and increases to the minimum
wage. Josei Union and Onna Kumiai are involved in broad
campaigns supporting equal treatment for part-time workers and benefits
for temporary workers such as the Kintō taigu (Equal treatment for
temporary workers) action 2003 (interview October 2003). Onna Kumiai
participated in an action in October 2003 to address issues of equal
rights for part-time workers which involved distributing leaflets,
marching, holding speak-outs and performing a play at a series of
nominated venues around the march route in Osaka.
2. Co-operation
with other organisations
Japan's women-only
unions, while not affiliated with national union organisations, do
co-operate with Rengō's Gender Equity Department. Japan's
women-only unions form a loose coalition with a view to forming a
national and ultimately international network (interviews August 2002).
Onna Kumiai and Josei Union resemble other
union organisations, especially the 'new' type unions(25),
as they are involved in broader national and international campaigns
including support for part-time workers and benefits for temporary
workers, the community union network, Equal Conditions Action 2003 and
the Committee for Asian Women (CAW) (interview October 2003). Onna
Kumiai is involved in broader campaigns supporting part-time
workers and benefits for temporary workers (interview October 2003). Josei
Union co-operates with international organisations, an example of
which is the case involving a sexual harassment claim against
Mitsubishi Motors in the US (Josei Union Tokyo 1999: 25).
Problems facing
women-only unions
Japan's Trade Union
Law permits multiple unions in a single company (Araki 2002: 162) and
although agreements which recognise 'one union, one workplace'
predominate(26),
the history of Japan's post-war union movement provides examples of
'second' or 'breakaway' unions encouraged by management to crush
militant unions or in particular by women to overcome patriarchal
control (Kawanishi 1992; Price 1997; Kawanishi 1999). The overwhelming
existence of 'one workplace, one union' workplaces and the decline in
workplaces with second unions does have a greater impact on Josei
Union's ability to organise part-time workers who are excluded from
their workplace enterprise union. Because an existing enterprise-based
union precludes the formation of a 'second' union, workers excluded
from the existing union are unable to be collectively organised by
another union, which leaves these vulnerable workers without collective
union representation.
All Japan's
women-only unions are small in membership and to this end face the
issue of financial insecurity and thus survival, an issue Briskin
identifies constrains autonomous women-only organisations (1999: 544). Onna
Kumiai is run by volunteers and its survival, while dependent on
their dedication, requires fewer resources and as it was founded in a
different region of Japan and is thus not competing with other
women-only unions in Japan(27),
will continue in some capacity for the foreseeable future. Josei
Union needs resources to provide employment for staff. Because of
this Japan's women-only unions may garner outside support ensuring a
strong chance of survival. Unlike enterprise-based unions in Japan, for
which membership is compulsory for full-time workers, Josei Union
has to overcome membership losses and the subsequent decline in
resources as well as finding ways of increasing membership.
Conclusion: do
women-only unions in Japan have a role to play?
The significance of
women-only unions in Japan lies not in the numbers of union members
they organise, which is small, nor their ability to collectively
bargain, which is limited. Their significance lies in the organising of
non-full-time workers, unemployed workers and workers not organised by
existing enterprise-based mixed unions, the majority of whom are women.
The organising focus of women-only unions indicates a potentially huge
membership existing mixed unions in Japan are unable or unwilling to
organise.
Women-only unions
have had a significant impact on the lives of their members and to some
extent those of other women workers not only in addressing and
resolving issues such as unfair dismissal, non-payment of wages and
benefits, sexual harassment and violence, but women-only unions raise
awareness of unions and the benefits of collective representation among
women workers. By organising greater numbers of women workers into
unions run by women and for women, by providing training and education,
the impact of politicising women workers has significant implications
for the form and configuration of social and welfare policies.
Women-only unions, by increasing the number of unionised workers, raise
awareness of the conditions experienced by women workers, amongst women
and the broader workers movement and population, through forms of
organising which encourage women workers to actively participate in the
running of the union.
Given declining
union
membership in Japan, women-only unions increase the proportion of
unionised workers and contribute to raising awareness of the conditions
of women workers, particularly non-full-time workers. By co-operating
with mixed unions on broader issues such as increasing minimum wages
and improving conditions for part-time workers, women-only unions may
have a transformative effect on mixed unions and challenge them to
rethink their strategies and create networks and connections beneficial
for the broader workers movement.
Declining union
membership and strategies for union renewal are issues of debate for
academics, union officials and union members world-wide (see IIRA
2000), and an examination of women-only unions in Japan contributes to
this debate. Women-only unions address the needs of a growing number of
non-unionised women workers, and by unionising these workers, they are
extending collective representation. Their existence and successes
challenge the cultures, policies and practices of male-dominated
unions. The focus of women-only unions in Japan is not confined to
advancing conditions for women alone. Women interviewed argued their
efforts are aimed at improving conditions for a greater number of
workers, female and male, demonstrated by their participation in and
support of actions, for example for part-timers, agency and temporary
workers as well as joint actions on a wide range of campaigns such as
over benefits for temporary workers. They believe the issues of
interest to women workers had been ignored/sidelined by the
male-dominated union movement. A discussion of 'women organising'
broadens the scope and activity of the union movement. Women-only
unions in Japan also deepen our understanding of the institutions and
actors in these culturally diverse industrial contexts as well as
contributing to the discussion on issues surrounding gender and
unionism and the relevance of unionism to a growing sector of the
workforce.
Notes
1) In this research
I
use the term women-only unions to refer to unions
which have been created by women for women members. There are other
unions which have only women members but are affiliated with enterprise
or industrial federations (Josei Union Tokyo survey 2003) and unions
which have a largely female membership and/or union executive. This
research project does not include these unions. In Japan the creation
of women-only unions contravenes the Trade Union Law as it is
considered discriminatory. The women-only unions refer to themselves as
‘women’s unions’ but often include at least one male who may be a
worker or parliamentarian sympathetic and supportive of their cause. In
response to the Trade Union Law unions have responded by including a
clause in their charter which denounces discrimination on the basis of
ethnicity, religion, sex, or status (Josei Union Tokyo Charter 2001: 1).
2) This paper forms
part of a broader research project which examines
women-only unions in Japan and Korea. For comparisons see ‘Sisters
organising: Women-only unions in Japan and Korea’, Industrial
Relations Journal forthcoming.
3) Denmark’s
women-only union which formed in 1885 decided it had achieved
its goals as an autonomous women-only union and amalgamated with the
mixed National General Workers Union in 2004 where it will continue to
work to improve workers conditions (interview Oct 2003; thanks to
Erling Rasmussen for the update).
4) Kollontai notes
“Trade union organisations confined to women are found
in almost all countries (United States, France, Sweden, Denmark,
Germany and so on) . . .” (1918: 27).
5) Women-only
unions
such as the Service, Office, Retail Workers Union of
Canada (SORWUC) which formed in 1972 and continued until the late 1970s
(Baker 1993).
6) The Penn
Thozhilalargal Sangam organises 2500 women from the
construction and quarrying, domestic services and garments and
tailoring which are the three largest employers of women workers (Mody
2005:13). I have yet to research this union which provides scope to
developing the field of research.
7) The Women’s
Protective and Provident League (later the Women’s Trade
Union League - WTUL) formed in England in 1874 and the Women’s Trade
Union League formed in the US in 1903 while the National Federation of
Women Workers (NFWW) formed in England in 1906. Both Leagues encouraged
and supported the creation of women-only unions for women employed in
non-union industries, and provided support for women unionised in mixed
unions (Lewenhak 1977; Foner 1979). The NFWW was “rooted in the ideas
and militancy of the early general labour unions. In its struggle to
improve wages and conditions, it usually found that the strike was the
only weapon at its disposal.” (Boston cited in German 1989: 125) The
NFWW became the Women’s district of the National Union of General
Workers in 1921, the same year the WTUL (UK) became part of the Trades
Union Congress (German 1989: 132).
8) Attitude surveys
indicate declining support for this belief - in 1965
43 percent of people agreed with the statement (28 percent replied that
they neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement); in 2000 25
percent of supported this attitude (25.6 percent replied they neither
agreed nor disagreed with the statement). Broken down by gender, 21.4
percent of women and 29.6 percent of men agreed with the statement.
(Nihon Fujin Dantai Rengōkai 2000 (ed) Josei Hakushō 2000, Tokyo,
Harupu Publishing: 49)
9) In May 2004
Jinzai
Services General Union formed and organises 18,000
temporary workers (The Japan Times, August 31, 2004).
10) Recently Rengō and a number of industrial federations have
renamed their women’s departments Gender Equality Departments.
11) Women in Japan
earn 60.4 percent of a male wage which drops to 48
percent if part-time workers are included (Brinton 2001: 16).
12) There are very
few enterprise-based unions in Japan which organise any
non-full-time employees of a company which would indicate these
enterprise unions have reached an agreement with management to restrict
their membership to full-time workers. For discussion of an enterprise
union in Japan which organises segments of the part-time workforce see
Broadbent 2003.
13) 2003 data
suggests 10.8 percent of workplaces have multiple unions, a
decline of three percent since 1999 (Kōsei Rōdōshō 2003b).
14) Women-only
unions
in Japan are part of a recent trend in union
organising which includes community based and part-time workers unions
or what Kawanishi (1992) has called ‘new type’ unions. These ‘new type’
unions are organising workers beyond the traditional industry,
occupational or enterprise basis. These include unions organised in
specific communities and part-time workers unions. Some organisations
in the ‘new type’ union movement are considering affiliating with the
national labour organisation, Rengō (interview August 2002).
15) Mackie
(1997:123)
argues not all male union leaders were paternalistic,
citing the example of Yamane Kenjiro who in encouraging women workers
to join the textile union referred to workers with the non-gender
specific terms warera rōdōsha or bōshoku rōdōsha.
16) For discussion
of
an enterprise union in Japan organising elements of
the part-time workforce see Broadbent 2003, Women’s Employment in
Japan: The Experience of Part-time Workers, London:
RoutledgeCurzon. This union started organising part-time workers in
1981 in response to demands by part-time workers for union
representation. General unions in Japan are also eligible to organise
part-time workers butt only if approached by an individual part-time
worker. In Japan in 2003 63.4 percent of enterprise unions have a union
shop agreement with management. Generally this means limiting union
membership to full-time workers (Kōsei Rōdōshō 2003b).
17) In Japan 46
percent of women (Kōsei Rōdōshō 2003a: 18) are employed in
the non-full-time workforce.
18) In 2003 total
trade union membership in Japan was 19.2 percent (Kōsei
Rōdōshō 2004) Accessed May 2005.
19)
'Informalisation
of work in the South [Hemisphere], a process that is
becoming increasingly "feminised" and threatening (my emphasis)
established trade unionism creating a "crisis of representation".
(Lambert & Webster 2004:140). I don’t have an issue with this
comment but I’m unsure if it implies women don’t and can’t understand
industrial issues in which case it might also be that the organising
strategies used are focused on organising male workers or that the
existing mixed unions may be problematic.
20) Women have gone
outside the union movement and turned to the courts to
address issues such as the gender pay gap and discriminatory promotion
policies. Recent judicial decisions have had mixed outcomes as some
have not accepted that the company’s practices were discriminatory,
thus further frustrating women’s attempts to achieve equal wages and
conditions to their male co-workers (Arita 2005).
21) Women rarely
became union officials even in workplaces where the
workforce was predominantly female.
22) Josei Union
have established connections as the
Japanese unions participated in a study tour to Korea in late 1999 and Josei
Union participated in a workshop organised by KWTU in 2005.
23) The JNR dispute
in Japan has continued since the late 1980s when the
Japanese government began privatising and dividing the public railway
system with the not so hidden agenda of busting the powerful Kokurō
union.
24) I participated
as
an observer in both collective and individual
bargaining sessions and members commented on the feeling of solidarity
and support gained from the participation of other union members.
25) Kawanishi
(1992)
uses the term ‘new’ type unions to refer to unions
organised beyond the traditional industry, occupational or enterprise
basis. These include unions organised in specific communities and
part-time workers unions.
26) 2004 data
suggests 10.8 percent of workplaces have multiple unions, a
decline of three percent since 1999 (Kōsei Rōdōshō 2003).
27) Unlike
women-only
unions in Korea which, although they co-operate over
certain issues, do not co-operate broadly due largely to their
differing approaches to resolving issues important to women workers.
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About the
author
| Kaye
Broadbent gained a PhD in
Japanese studies from Griffith University, Australia where she is a senior
lecturer. She is currently an Australia Research Council Research
Fellow in the Griffith Asia
Institute until 2006. Her
research interests include the impact of gender on work and industrial
relations and gender and unions in a comparative context. She has
published widely in a variety of journals on these themes. Her recent
publications include Women’s
Employment in Japan: The Experience of Part-time Workers published in 2003 by RoutledgeCurzon.
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