The Law on Unfair Labour Practices

Abstract

The Japanese unfair labour practices system was introduced by the American Occupation Forces using as a model the Wagner Act of 1935 Therefore, the protection of the unions and the promotion of their bargaining power is the fundamental purpose of the system. However, the actual functioning of the system has taken a different form in Japan. Firstly, the Japanese system is regarded as having its legal foundations in the constitutional guarantee of the worker’s right to organize. Thus, in Japan, it is generally agreed that there is no possibility of accepting a notion such as that of an unfair labour practice by a union which was introduced in the U.S. by the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. Secondly, the Japanese administrative organs — the Labour Relations Commissions — are fairly different from their American counterpart — the National Labour Relations Board system. The Commissions are, as we will describe later in some detail (see Chapter VII §2), composed of labour, employer and public members. Their procedures are closer to court procedure than are the procedures of the American Boards (see also Chapter VII §2). As a result the Japanese system tends to be of a more legal nature; promoting the legal rights of the unions by means of giving careful consideration to the legal points raised by the parties, rather than promoting the bargaining process and protecting the actual interests of the unions by providing quick relief. In this Chapter the contents of the law on unfair labour practices will be described, while the organs and procedures involved will be discussed in Chapter VII within the general context of dispute settlement in industrial relations.