Press translations [Japan]. Economic Series 0027, 1945-11-29.
Date29 November, 1945
translation numbereconomic-0146
call numberDS801 .S81
Persistent Identifier
ECONOMIC SERIES: 27
ITEM 1 Labor Union Bill Drawn Up - Nippon Sangyo Keizai - 25 Nov 45. Translator T. Okamura.
Full translation:
An epoch-making labor union bill will be presented, after approval at the forthcoming
Diet session is obtained, it was
formally decided at the meeting of the Labor Union Bill Investigation Committee, held
on 24 November. The Government, in order
to contribute towards post-war economic recovery as well as the democratization of
JAPAN, has appointed a committee to prepare
a labor union bill. The project was accelerated by a suggestion from the Supreme Commander
for the Allied Powers. The
committee, organized on 20 October by the Welfare Ministry, consists of 24 Welfare
Ministry officials, members of both Houses,
representatives of labor and capital, and learned and experienced notables.
The committee, chairman of which is Baron OKURA, Kimmochi, held its general meeting
on 27 October, when a draft plan was made
up. Since then a series of meetings has been held to discuss detailed plans by a subcommittee,
with Mr. ONO, Rokuichiro as its
chairman. At the general meeting of the Labor Union Bill Investigation Committee,
held on 21 November, the final decision was
made and handed over to Welfare Minister ASHIDA on 26 November. The decision, immediately
sent to the Bureau of Legislation
for legal formalities, will be presented to a cabinet session. After approval it will
be formally submitted at the
extraordinary session of the Diet.
In JAPAN, labor union bills were drawn up in vain several times between 1919 and
1931, these bills were submitted to the Diet
for approval in 1926, 1927 and 1931. At the third submission the so-called Social
Affairs Bureau Bill passed the House of
Representatives but was rejected by the House of Peers.
The new bill is directed at the economic rehabilitation and reconstruction of JAPAN,
thereby assuring at least a minimum
standard of living for laborers and maintaining the economic system in line with the
established policy of democratizing
JAPAN.
At the committee meetings, consequently, there was no evident difference of opinion
among the committee members. The projected
bill permits organization of unions and promises to give equal opportunity to laborers
who contribute towards the economic
expansion and cultural development of newly-born JAPAN.
ECONOMIC SERIES: 27 (Continued)
ITEM 1 (Continued)
The most outstanding points of the bill are summarized as follows: the bill admits
the right of collective bargaining and the
right to strike; regulations providing for labor agreements are promulgated; a Labor
Committee will be organized to take the
place of the Labor Dispute Arbitration Board, which will play an important part in
arbitrating disputes between capital and
labor.
The text of the bill follows:
CHAPTER I GENERAL REGULATIONS
Article 1. This Bill, by guaranteeing the right to unionize, aims to improve the
economic, social and political standards of
laborers and to give equal opportunity for economic rehabilitation and cultural expansion.
Article 2. The following laws, ordinances and regulations shall not apply to members
of unions who act in the spirit of the
preceding article:
- a.Criminal law.
- b.Laws concerning punishment for violent actions.
- c.Ordinances for punishment of police offences.
- d.Administrative disposal law.
- e.Laws concerning publications.
Article 3. The term "labor unions" as employed in this law shall refer to those groups
or bodies organized by laborers who
have as their main objectives the maintenance and reform of labor conditions, and
improvement of their situation. Groups
corresponding to any of the following types shall not be recognized as labor unions:
- a.Those which admit the participation of employers or of any one who is recognized as representing employer interests.
- b.Those whose main expenditures are borne by employer subsidies.
- c.Those which aim only at co-operative, cultural or other social welfare enterprises.
- d.Those which aim mainly at political or social movements.
When it is difficult to decide whether any organization is to be accepted as a labor
union the decision shall be made by the
Welfare Minister or Prefectural Governor's appointed committee, in accordance with
the regulations of an order. Laborers
referred to in these provisions are those workers who live on wages or salaries, regardless
of occupation.
CHAPTER II LABOR UNIONS
Article 4. The representative of any labor union shall report to the Prefectural
Governor, within a week from the date of
formation of the union, the articles of association and names and addresses of
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ECONOMIC SERIES: 27 (Continued)
ITEM 1 (Continued)
executive committee members.
Article 5. The article of association shall contain at least the following information:
- a.Name of organization.
- b.Objectives and enterprises.
- c.Location of the main office.
- d.Regulations concerning the members or groups participating.
- e.If incorporated, a statement that effect.
- f.Regulations concerning conferences.
- g.Regulations concerning the representative and other executive committee members.
- h.Regulations concerning expenditures and other accounts.
- i.Regulations concerning the revision of the regulations of the union.
Article 6. When any alteration in Article 4 occurs, report must be made to the Prefectural
Governor within a week.
Article 7. In case regulations of unions conflict with the ordinances, the Welfare
Minister or Prefectural Governor may order
revision of the former upon demand of the labor committee, in accordance with the
regulations provided by law.
Article 8. Any labor union shall have a list of its members at its office, but at
the federation of unions only the list of
unions participating is necessary.
Article 9. The representative of the unions, or any one who has been authorized by
the union to do so, has the right to
negotiate with the employer or his group on labor agreements or other matters, on
behalf of the union or its members.
Article 10. Employers cannot discharge or otherwise mistreat their employees because
they are members of a labor union.
Employers cannot make non-participation in or quitting the union a condition of employment.
Article 11. Employers cannot demand from the union, or its members, or its executive
committees, any indemnity for losses
caused by strikes or other similar acts occurring in labor disputes; but in case actions
in labor disputes are committed
against the regulations provided in article 24, this provision shall be void.
Article 12. The executive committee of any union cannot use the funds especially
reserved for co-operative, cultural, or other
welfare enterprises, for other purposes except when such an act is approved at the
general meeting of the members.
- 3 -
ECONOMIC SERIES: 27 (Continued)
ITEM 1 (Continued)
Article 13. The labor union shall be dissolved for the following reasons:
- a.When such reasons as are provided in the articles of association occur.
- b.Bankruptcy.
- c.Resolution passed at the general meeting in which three-fourths of all members are present.
- d.At the issue of an order of disbandment, as provided in Article 14.
Article 14. When a labor union commits frequent violations of laws, or disturbs peace
and order, the courts, at the request of
the Labor Committee, may order its dissolution, and all formalities necessary for
such measures shall be determined by court
order.
Article 15. A labor union, by declaring itself a juridical person (corporation) in
its provisions, or by registering the
following items at the location of its office, shall obtain the privileges of a juridical
person:
- a.Items mentioned in a, c and g, in Article 5.
- b.Names and addresses of the executive committee.
When any alteration of the items in the afore-mentioned paragraphs occurs, the registration
of such alteration, within a week,
is required. Prior to registration the union can not appear in a dispute as an agent
for its membership.
Article 16. Regulations provided in Articles 43, 44, 50, 52 through 55, and 57 of
the Civil Code shall be applied to labor
unions as juridical persons. In case the labor union dissolves, as a juridical person
regulations provided in articles 72
through 33 of the Civil Code shall be applied in its liquidation.
Article 17. Privilege of adequate remission of taxes shall be granted to labor unions
as juridical persons, in the same,
proportion as to industrial associations.
CHAPTER III LABOR AGREEMENT
Article 18. If an agreement concerning labor conditions or an adjustment between
labor and capital has been concluded, between
the labor union and the employer, both parties concerned shall co-operate to put it
into effect, thereby taking responsibility
for the promotion of efficiency and the maintenance of industrial peace.
Article 19. The labor agreement shall be put into written form. The parties to the
labor agreement shall report said agreement
to the Prefectural Governor within one week after the time of agreement.
Article 20. The period of validity shall be fixed in the labor agreement, and the
period will be limited to less than three
years.
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ECONOMIC SERIES: 27 (Continued)
ITEM 1 (Continued)
Article 21. If labor conditions and regulations for the treatment of workers have
been determined by the labor agreement,
these regulations shall have legal restrictive power over both workers and employers
concerned. Again, the same shall apply to
any agency established to decide the regulations according to the above mentioned
agreement. Any labor agreement which has
violated these standards shall be null and void, and this invalid part of the agreement
consequently shall be supplemented on
a basis of the standards agreed on.
Article 22. When a fixed labor agreement has been applied to more than three fourth
of the workers employed in a single
factory, this agreement shall also apply to the rest of the workers in that factory.
Article 23. If a labor agreement has been applied to a majority of the workers engaging
in a similar industry or occupation
within a single area, the Prefectural Governor (or Welfare Minister if this area include
two prefectures) through his own
power or on the demand of both parties or that of a single party to the agreement,
shall be empowered to apply the restrictive
power there of to all other workers and employers. But this decision of the Prefectural
Governor or Welfare Minister shall
have been sanctioned by a resolution of the Labor Committee. In this case, the Labor
Committee, if they have found an
inadequate point in the labor agreement, shall be empowered to amend the agreement,
and the decision in the first paragraph of
this article shall not be effective until this has been publicly set forth.
Article 24. If there be, in the labor contract an agreement to arbitrate disputes
on agreed matters, general strikes lock-out
and other strike actions shall not be allowed without prior arbitration or intervention.
CHAPTER IV LABOR COMMITTEE
Article 25. In order to carry on smoothly negotiations between labor and capital,
a Labor Committee shall be established
consisting of delegates of employers, laborers, and non-partisans, each in the same
number. Those who represent the employers
shall be recommended by the employers, the labor delegates by the labor union and
the delegates of third persons
(non-partisans) by assent of both the delegates of employers and workers.
The Labor Committee shall be established in the metropolis and in other regions,
and if necessary, there shall be established
a special committee in a fixed area having regard to specific matters. In case of
the application of criminal law to members
of the Labor Committee, they shall be deemed to be engaged in official business. Matters
concerning the Labor Committee other
than those specified in this act, shall be determined by decree.
Article 26. The Labor Committee shall engage in the following business beside the
matters stipulated in Articles 3, 7, l4, and
23.
- a.Preparation of statistics of labor disputes and inquiry into labor situations. - 5 -
- ECONOMIC SERIES: 27 (Continued) ITEM 1 (Continued)
- b.Assistance in collective bargaining and prevention of labor disputes.
- c.Arbitration and reconciliation of labor disputes.
- d.Making proposals concerning the improvement of labor conditions.
Article 27. The Labor Committee shall open its session to the public when deemed
necessary to the public interest or when
there is a demand from those connected with the committee.
Article 28. The Labor Committee, in order to carry on the business enacted in Article
26, shall, if necessary, either call the
employers or their corporations, the labor union and those connected with them, and
require the presentation of their
account-books and other documents, or inspect the factories concerned.
Article 29. Committee members or those who have been members, and the staff or those
who have ever been on the staff, shall
not permit the dissemination of secrets which they have learned in the course of their
business.
Article 30. The provisions of CHAPTER III shall apply also to the agreement for preventing
and settling labor disputes not
entered into by a labor union, and which are to be arbitrated by the Labor Committee.
Article 31. If the labor conditions of workers engaged in a particular industry or
occupation are not suitable, the Labor
Committee may propose a practical plan to ameliorate such conditions to the Prefectural
Governor, after investigating the
facts.
In such cases, the Prefectural Governor shall have the power to indicate definite
standards of labor conditions to the
employers concerned or their corporations, if he deems it necessary. If the employers
receive, such information, they must
inform the workers about it without delay.
The above indication of labor conditions by the Governor shall have the same validity
as a labor agreement, for both employers
and workers concerned. The several rules mentioned above shall apply only after the
Labor Committee has presented them to the
Welfare Minister.
CHAPTER V PUNISHMENT REGULATIONS
Article 32. Those who have violated the provisions of Article 10 shall be sentenced
to a maximum term of six months'
imprisonment or shall be fined up to a maximum of 100 yen.
Article 33. Those who without good cause have neglected to appear or present their
evidence as a stipulated in Article 28, or
those who have rejected, or prevented and refused to permit the inspection stipulated
in the same article shall be fined up to
a maximum of 100 yen.
- 6 -
ECONOMIC SERIES: 27 (Continued)
ITEM 1 (Continued)
Article 34. If representatives of a juridical or private person or heads of families,
members of the families of such
juridical or private persons, or persons living with them, or hired by them or any
other persons employed by them have
violated any of the foregoing provisions and those of Article 32, in regard to the
business of either the juridical person or
private person, such juridical or private persons shall not be exempted from punishment
for the reason that they had not
themselves commanded this action.
The foregoing provision and those of Article 32 shall be applied to the director,
or the managing director and other staff
members who handle the business of a juridical person, and shall apply also to legal
representatives of private persons if
such persons are underage or legally adjudged uncompetent to carry on business.
Article 35. Those who have violated the provisions of Article 29 shall be fined up
to a maximum of 200 yen.
Article 36. The representatives of trade unions, auditors and employers shall be
fined up to 50 yen in the following cases:
- a.In case they have neglected the presentation of information stipulated in Articles 4, and 6, and the second item of Article 9 (including the case to which the provisions of Article 30 shall be applied) or have presented false information.
- b.In case they have neglected to provide the list of names stipulated in Article 8.
- c.In case they have neglected the registration enacted in Article 77 of the Civil Code, which corresponds to the stipulations in Article 16.
- d.In case they have prevented the inspection by a court of justice as stipulated in Article 82 of the Civil Code, which corresponds to the stipulation in Article 16.
- e.In case they have violated the provisions of Article 8l of the Civil Code which corresponds to the stipulations in Article 16.
- f.In case they have neglected to give public notice, as specified in Article 79 or Article 81 of the Civil Code, which corresponds to the stipulations in Article 16, and in case they have given illegal public notice.
- g.In case they have neglected to inform workers as stipulated in the third item of Article 31.
THE INCIDENTAL DECISIONS
- 1.It is intended to include in the Constitution a provision concerning the rights and duties of labor.
- 2.It is demanded that according to the spirit of Article 1 steps be taken to avoid the placing of illegal restrictions upon the rights of unions in case of the police ordinances, ordinances concerning punishment, and the application of - 7 -
- ECONOMIC SERIES: 27 (Continued) ITEM 1 (Continued) Article 2 of this law.
- 3.It is demanded that the Government adjust and increase administrative machinery of labor and create a Labor Ministry as soon as possible, thereby unifying the labor administration and at the same time separating labor administrative activity from police administration in both central and regional areas, thereby causing the Labor Board which is to be renovated as well as enlarged, to handle general labor matters.
- 4.It is necessary in deliberations on economic recovery, that the Government have the representatives of labor unions participate in these deliberations, thereby making all laborers realize their great responsibility in the matter of recovery.
- 5.It is demanded that the Government abolish the Labor Disputes Arbitration Law (RODOSOGI CHOTEI HO) and establish a new law aimed at the adjustment of relations between labor and capital and, which will at the same time be able to settle labor disputes promptly.
- 6.It is demanded that the Central Labor Committee (CHUO RODOSHA IINKAI) establish itself as a powerful organization by unifying its present form so as to be able to conduct scientific investigations of labor problems.
- 7.It would be best, in choosing members of the Labor Committee the staff of trade unions, that special attention be paid to the elimination of such unsuitable men as militarists.
DISTRIBUTION "X"
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