are

Japanese government The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state, c ...

commissions responsible for protecting the legal rights of workers in Japan under the

Constitution of Japan The Constitution of Japan (Shinjitai: , Kyūjitai: , Hepburn: ) is the constitution of Japan and the supreme law in the state. Written primarily by American civilian officials working under the Allied occupation of Japan, the constitution r ...

and the

Trade Union Act of 1949 The is a Japanese law. It was enacted on 1 June 1949 to provide the right for workers to organize in Japan. It has been translated as the "Trade Union Law" and "Labor Union Law". Historical origins Pre-war Trade Union bills After the First Wo ...

Structure

Central Labor Relations Commission, Tokyo

Each of the 47

prefectures of Japan Japan is divided into 47 prefectures (, ''todōfuken'', ), which rank immediately below the national government and form the country's first level of jurisdiction and administrative division. They include 43 prefectures proper (, ''ken''), two ...

has a prefectural Labour Relations Commission. The Central Labour Relations Commission is located in Tokyo. Parties dissatisfied with a decision in one of the prefectural labour commissions can appeal the Central Labour Commission. It also hears cases of nationwide scale or great importance.

Commissioners

Commissioners of the prefectural Labour Relations Commissions are appointed by the governor of the relevant prefecture, while those at the Central Labour Commission are appointed by the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. Commissioner numbers are distributed equally among commissioners from union, employer, and public interest backgrounds.

Functions

Labour Relations Commissions have two main functions: # Making administrative decisions (such as deciding unfair labour practices) # Adjusting labour relations (bringing together disputing parties) While the labour commissions do have some powers to enforce decisions, they function more as forums to bring disputing parties together. More than 70% of cases end in some form of settlement.

Length of cases

According to the labour ministry, from 1996 to 1999, the prefectural labour commissions took around 800 days on average to investigate a case, and the Central Labour Relations Commission spent 1,500 days in the reinvestigation process. It took roughly 500 days on average to litigate labour dispute trials brought before district courts. In 2003, various reforms were discussed to speed up the process of cases. In 2005, the

Trade Union Act Trade Union Act (with its many variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in various countries which relates to trade unions. The Bill for an Act with this short title will have been known as a Trade Union Bill during its passage throu ...

was amended to speed up the process of labour commission cases.

Central Labour Relations Commission

In 2008, during the administration of Liberal Democratic Party Prime Minister

Tarō Asō is a Japanese politician serving as the Vice President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since 2021. Asō previously served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2008 to 2009 and as Deputy Prime Minister of Japan and Minister of Finance from 2 ...

the government's

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...

panel recommended abolishing the Central Labour Relations Commission and only retaining the prefectural labour relations commissions. The proposal was not adopted.

Examples

The

National Railway Workers' Union The is a Japanese trade union, which is usually referred to as in Japanese. Historically, Kokurō represented many of the workers who worked for Japanese National Railways (JNR), from which the union derived its name. For several decades in the ...

(Kokuro) affiliated to the

National Trade Union Council National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(Zenrokyo) has filed many labour relations commission cases against

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

regarding various types of unfair labour practices. A group of 23 petitions filed after 1991 alleged that 1,800 union members in six prefectures had been discriminated against in violation of article seven of the

. Local labour relations commissions recognized discrimination in three prefectures, (Kanagawa, Tokyo and Akita) and an order for redress was issued. The company appealed this to the Central Labour Relations Commission in Tokyo. The Central Labour Relations Commission brokered a deal, and in 2005, Kokuro withdrew the 23 cases claiming anti-union discrimination against its members. In return the company paid compensation estimated at 360 million yen.The Japan Time
JR East settles Kokuro wage discrimination row. November 9, 2005
Retrieved on August 2, 2012

External links

Central Labour Relations Commission

References

{{Authority control Government agencies of Japan Industrial agreements Labor relations boards Labor relations in Asia