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Japan: The Evolution of Life-Time Employment
Yonatan Reshef
School of Business
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
T6G 2R6 CANADA
F Late 19th century: Cottage
industry based on casual labor (internal contracting)
F Late 19th century: Larger-scale industry based on work
gangs (internal contracting)
F The
1894-5
(Sino-Japanese) 1905 (Russo-Japanese) wars increase demands for more stable employment
patterns; consequently,
F The work-gang system is
being replaced by direct employment; a system supported by welfare capitalist efforts
(sick pay, pensions, bonuses, compulsory savings plans); and an ideology of "familism"
F The post-1945 era:
F Japan's
organizational capacity is destroyed
F Widespread destitution
F Rapid spread of
communist (Sanbetsu) and socialist (Sodomei) sympathies
F Trade Union Law (1945) -
the rights to organize, bargain collectively, and strike are legitimized
F Labor Relations
Adjustment Law (1946) - mediation, conciliation, and voluntary arbitration are made
available
F Unions' strength
increases
F The Trade Union Law is revised (1948) - forbids strikes and restricts
CB in the public sector; prohibits union use of company premises and acceptance of company
financial aid
F The Red Purge
(1950) - 12,000 public-sector employees with Communists leanings are purged
F 1950 - laying the
foundations for the LTE system and its supporting institutions of company unions and
seniority based wages, and accompanying rituals (e.g. ringi, shunto)
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