Japan Press Weekly

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2011 January 12 - 18 [LABOR]

Gov’t is reluctant to restore public workers’ basic labor rights

The government plans to drastically reduce national government employees’ wages by abolishing the current system of determining their salaries.

At present, the government is required to decide national public servants’ wages in accordance with annual salary recommendations issued by the National Personnel Authority.

Public sector workers at first had the basic labor rights to organize and to bargain and act collectively as guaranteed by Article 28 of the Japanese Constitution. However, in 1948, following an order from Douglas MacArthur, commander of the General Headquarters of the allied forces occupying postwar Japan, the Ashida Cabinet at the time prohibited national government employees from taking labor dispute actions and bargaining collectively. As a result, national public workers were deprived of the right to negotiate with authorities for improving their working conditions such as demanding a wage hike.

As compensation for the restriction of the fundamental labor rights, the National Personnel Authority was established. The NPA, an independent organization, makes recommendations to the government regarding remuneration and other working conditions for national government employees.

The NPA recommendation system prevents the government from reducing national government workers’ wages arbitrarily. The government now aims to abolish the NPA recommendation system in return for granting only a small part of basic labor rights to public workers. To achieve this, it is now preparing to submit a bill to give national public workers the right to conclude a collective-bargaining agreement in the upcoming ordinary Diet session.

The National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) and its affiliate, the Federation of National Public Service Employees’ Unions (Kokko-roren), criticize the government for being unwilling to fully restore fundamental labor rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Zenroren and Kokko-roren urge the government to give back all basic labor rights to public workers in line with the Japanese Constitution and the ILO standards and have expressed their determination to increase their struggle against wage cuts.