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41-621: On May 4, 1955, an official from the Tachikawa branch of the Tokyo Procurement Office ( 調達庁東京 , Chōtatsu-chō Tōkyō ) approached the mayor of Sunagawa to inform him of plans to expand the runway of the Tachikawa airfield. The U.S. Air Force had deemed the expansion necessary in order for the runway to accommodate larger, jet-powered bombers. The result of an order from officials of the American-occupied base,

82-408: A decade, with large-scale riots at Japan's two leading copper mines, Ashio and Besshi, which were only suppressed by the use of troops. None of these early unions were large (the metalworkers union had 3,000 members, only 5% of workers employed in the industry), or lasted longer than three or four years, largely due to strong opposition from employers and the government's anti-union policies, notably

123-514: A number of protest actions against the US government and for American Indian rights in the 1960s and 1970s. Amidst the protests, on July 8, 1957, in an event known as the Sunagawa Incident ( 砂川事件 , Sunagawa Jiken ) , some protestors infiltrated the air base. Seven were arrested and charged with trespassing. Their case became a cause célèbre as it wound its way through the courts. In

164-415: A violent attack again. With the surveyors unable to conduct their work to prepare for the runway expansion, the expansion plans were "indefinitely shelved" in late 1957, after which time the protests died away. For a time, the U.S. military still hoped that the runway expansion might be restarted after some time had passed, forcing the farmers to maintain some of their barricades indefinitely. However, in 1968,

205-457: Is a French phrase in common usage in English. Since it has been fully adopted into English and is included unitalicized in English dictionaries, it is not normally italicized despite its French origin. It has been noted that the public attention given to a particular case or event can obscure the facts rather than clarify them. As one observer states, "The true story of many a cause célèbre

246-450: Is never made manifest in the evidence given or in the advocates' orations, but might be recovered from these old papers when the dust of ages has rendered them immune from scandal". In French, one of the meanings of cause is a legal case , and célèbre means "famous". The phrase originated with the 37-volume Nouvelles Causes Célèbres , published in 1763, which was a collection of reports of well-known French court decisions from

287-466: The First World War , there were many attempts to establish a trade union law to protect the rights of workers to organize themselves, including a Department of Home Affairs bill in 1925, which would have prevented employers from discharging workers for belonging to a union, or requiring workers to quit (or not join) a union. But these bills never became law. Hampered by their weak legal status,

328-619: The General Council of Trade Unions of Japan (日本労働組合総評議会 nihon rōdō kumiai sōhyōgikai , commonly known as Sōhyō ), with 4.4 million members—a substantial percentage representing public sector employees; the Japan Confederation of Labour ( zen nihon rodo sodomei , commonly known as Dōmei ), with 2.2 million members; the Association of Neutral Labour Unions ( ja:中立労連 Chūritsu Rōren ), with 1.6 million members; and

369-529: The National Federation of Industrial Organizations ( ja:新産別 Shinsanbetsu ), with only 61,000 members. In 1987 Dōmei and Chūritsu Rōren were dissolved and amalgamated into the newly established Japanese Trade Union Confederation ( 連合 RENGO ), and in 1990 Sōhyō affiliates merged with Rengo. The rate of labor union membership declined considerably after its postwar high to 16.3% as of 2023. The continuing long-term reduction in union membership

410-471: The spring labor offensives are highly ritualized affairs, with banners, sloganeering, and dances aimed more at being a show of force than a crippling job action. Meanwhile, serious discussions take place between the union officers and corporate managers to determine pay and benefit adjustments. During downturns, or when management tries to reduce the number of permanent employees, strikes often occur. The number of working days lost to labor disputes peaked in

451-485: The 17th and 18th centuries. While English speakers had used the phrase for many years, it came into much more common usage after the 1894 conviction of Alfred Dreyfus for espionage during the cementing of a period of deep cultural ties with a political tie between England and France, the Entente Cordiale . Both attracted worldwide interest and the period of closeness or rapprochement officially broadened

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492-985: The 1959 Sunagawa Case ( Sakata v. Japan ), the Tokyo District Court initially found the U.S. bases, as well as the entire U.S.–Japan Security Treaty, unconstitutional and fully exonerated the protestors. However, this decision was rapidly overturned by the Japanese Supreme Court . 35°43′24″N 139°24′23″E  /  35.72325°N 139.406431°E  / 35.72325; 139.406431 Labor unions in Japan National Confederation of Trade Unions ( Zenroren ) National Trade Union Council ( Zenrokyo ) Labour Relations Adjustment Law (1946) Labour Standards Law (1947) Labour Union Law (Act. No. 174, June 1949) Labour unions emerged in Japan in

533-594: The 1980s, workers received pay hikes that on average closely reflected the real growth of GNP for the preceding year. In 1989, for example, workers received an average 5.1% pay hike, while GNP growth had averaged 5% between 1987 and 1989. The moderate trend continued in the early 1990s as the country's national labor federations were reorganizing themselves. Cause c%C3%A9l%C3%A8bre A cause célèbre ( / ˌ k ɔː z s ə ˈ l ɛ b ( r ə )/ KAWZ sə- LEB( -rə) , French: [koz selɛbʁ] ; pl. causes célèbres , pronounced like

574-598: The Diet of Japan on 22 December 1945. While the law was created while Japan was under occupation, the law itself was largely a Japanese work. It was put together by a large legal advisory commission headed by the legal scholar Suehiro Izutaro. The commission was quite large, consisting of "three Welfare ministry bureaucrats and two scholars, a steering committee of 30 members (including the communist firebrand Kyuichi Tokuda ), and an overall membership of more than 130 members representing universities, corporations, political parties,

615-543: The Industrial Association for Serving the Nation ( Sangyo Hokokukai or Sampō ), the government-sponsored workers' organization, as part of a national reorganization of all civil organizations under central government direction and as a means of controlling radical elements in the workforce. Nonetheless, employees could still bargain and gain welfare benefits on a local level. Sampō remained in existence at

656-527: The National Federation of Construction Workers' Unions (717,908) Federation of City Bank Employees' Unions (105,950), Zendenko Roren (53,853), National Federation of Agricultural Mutual Aid Societies Employees' Unions (45,830), All Japan Council of Optical Industry Workers' Union (44,776), National Teachers Federation of Japan (42,000), Faculty and Staff Union of Japanese Universities (38,500), and All Aluminium Industrial Workers Union (36,000). In

697-620: The Public Order and Police Provisions Law (1900). One labour organization that did survive was the Friendly Society ( Yuaikai ), formed in 1912 by Bunji Suzuki, which became Japan's first durable union and was renamed the Japan Federation of Labour ( Nihon Rōdō Sodomei or Sōdōmei ) in 1921. Two years later it had a membership of 100,000 in 300 unions. From 1918 to 1921, a wave of major industrial disputes marked

738-456: The Sunagawa protesters made a point of sitting in unarmed. Wearing white shirts and white headbands to make the blood more visible, they deliberately allowed the police to beat them without resisting. The one-sided violence at Sunagawa proved successful in attracting sympathy to the protesters, leading to more favorable media coverage and further growth of the movement, and earning the struggle

779-677: The U.S. Air Force officially gave notification to the Japanese government that it had cancelled its expansion plans. In 1977, following the conclusion of the Vietnam War , the US transferred the base to the Japanese Self Defense Forces . The Sunagawa case not only resulted the shelving of the runway expansion plans, but also helped convey to both Japanese and American leaders the magnitude of popular antipathy in Japan against US-occupied military bases. In part owing to

820-610: The Zengakuren students at Sunagawa were used again in the 1960 Anpo Protests against the new, revised Treaty. Dennis Banks ( Ojibwe ), an American activist and co-founder of the American Indian Movement , was in the Air Force and stationed at Sunagawa. He later recounted being ordered to "shoot to kill" protesters during the disruption. He cited this experience as a key influence in his decision to organize

861-424: The absence of a right to bargain collectively with employers, and the setting up of management-organized factory councils, over 800 unions had succeeded in organizing only 7.9% of the labour force by 1931. Of these unions, the majority were organized along industrial or craft lines, with about one-third organized on an enterprise basis. In 1940, the government dissolved the existing unions and absorbed them into

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902-526: The bloody spectacle at Sunagawa, the Eisenhower administration in 1957 announced a massive 40 percent drawdown of U.S. troops in Japan, including all ground troops. Historian Jennifer M. Miller has argued that the Sunagawa protests also convinced the United States to renegotiate the U.S.–Japan Security Treaty on new terms more favorable to Japan. The tactics of unarmed protest pioneered by

943-632: The bureaucracy, social workers, and labor." In addition to the Trade Union Act of 1945, the postwar constitution of Japan , which became law on 3 May 1947 includes article 28, which guarantees the right of workers to participate in a trade union. On 1 June 1949, a new version of the Trade Union Law was enacted. It has since been amended in 1950, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1959, 1962, 1966, 1971, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1993, 1999, 2002, 2004, and 2005. By 1960, Japan's labor unions were at

984-460: The economic health of the company, and company management usually briefs the union membership on the state of corporate affairs. Local labor unions and work unit unions, rather than the federations, conducted the major collective bargaining . Unit unions often banded together for wage negotiations, but federations did not control their policies or actions. Federations also engaged in political and public relations activities. During prosperous times,

1025-429: The economic turmoil of 1974 and 1975 at around 9 million workdays in the two-year period. In 1979, however, there were fewer than 1 million days lost. Since 1981 the average number of days lost per worker each year to disputes was just over 9% of the number lost in the United States. After 1975, when the economy entered a period of slower growth, annual wage increases moderated and labor relations were conciliatory. During

1066-462: The end of the war. After the Japanese surrender on 15 August 1945, allied forces, mostly American, rapidly began arriving in Japan. Almost immediately, the occupiers began an intensive program of legal changes designed to democratize Japan. One action was to ensure the creation of a Trade Union Law to allow for the first time workers to organize, strike, and bargain collectively, which was passed by

1107-550: The establishment of a union for metalworkers, saw the beginnings of the modern Japanese trade-union movement. In February 1898, engineers and stokers at the Japan Railway Company successfully struck for improvement of status and higher wages. In the same year, ships' carpenters in Tokyo and Yokohama formed a union, and a dispute followed with demands for higher wages. 1907 saw the greatest number of disputes in

1148-555: The expansion plans would have involved the confiscation of farmland and the eviction of 140 families. Local families formed the Sunagawa Anti-Base Expansion Alliance ( 砂川基地拡張反対同盟 , Sunagawa Kichi Kakuchō Hantai Dōmei ) and barricaded their lands against government surveyors and their vehicles. Their struggle attracted the attention of the nationwide anti-base movement, and soon came to include regional and national labor unions affiliated with

1189-482: The farmers. The protests began to take on larger, nationwide implications, rhetorically portrayed as a decisive battle to protect Japan's " Peace Constitution " and resist American imperialism. Soon the struggle became a media spectacle. Realizing they were in front of television cameras and being covered by daily news, the students of Zengakuren pioneered a new type of protest tactic. Unlike earlier student protesters, who had often armed themselves in clashes with police,

1230-466: The first half of the Meiji period (1868–1912), most labour disputes occurred in the mining and textile industries and took the form of small-scale strikes and spontaneous riots . The second half of the period witnessed rapid industrialization , the development of a capitalist economy , and the transformation of many feudal workers to wage labour . The use of strike action increased, and 1897, with

1271-424: The formation of independent unions, but reversed course as part of broader anti-Communist measures. The legislation was passed that enshrined the right to organize, and membership rapidly rose to 5 million by February 1947. The organization rate peaked at 55.8% in 1949 and subsequently declined to 16.3% as of 2023. The labour movement went through a process of reorganization from 1987 to 1991 from which emerged

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1312-599: The height of their power, and served as the backbone of the massive 1960 Anpo protests against revision of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty . However, that same year, the Japanese labor movement suffered a devastating defeat in the climactic Miike Coal Mine strike at the Mitsui Miike Coal Mine in Kyushu, marking the high-water mark of labor militancy in Japan. Until the mid-1980s, Japan's 74,500 trade unions were represented by four main labor federations:

1353-515: The left-leaning Sōhyō labor federation, radical student activists from the Zengakuren league of student associations, and Socialist Party members of the Diet . The struggle escalated dramatically when police were sent in to remove the barricades. Since Sunagawa was very close to Tokyo , Zengakuren began busing in large numbers of students from Tokyo-area universities to bolster the manpower of

1394-469: The national level. The relationship between the typical labor union and the company is unusually close. Both white- and blue-collar workers join the union automatically in most major companies. Temporary and subcontracting workers are excluded, and managers with the rank of section manager and above are considered part of management. In most corporations, however, many of the managerial staff are former union members. In general, Japanese unions are sensitive to

1435-495: The peak of organized labour power. A prolonged economic slump that followed brought cutbacks in employment in heavy industry . In the early 1920s, ultra-cooperative unionists proposed the fusion of labour and management interests, heightening political divisions within the labour movement and precipitating the departure of left wing unions from Sōdōmei in 1925. The union movement has remained divided between right wing (“cooperative”) unions and left wing unions ever since. After

1476-598: The present configuration of three major labour union federations, along with other smaller national union organizations. In 2005, 43,096 labour unions in Japan , with a combined membership of 7,395,666 workers, belonged either directly, or indirectly through labour union councils, to the three main labour union federations : A further 19,139 unions, with a combined membership of 2,842,521 workers, were affiliated to other national labour organizations. The labour union organizations included (with membership figures for 2001/2002)

1517-517: The second half of the Meiji period , after 1890, as the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization. Until 1945, however, the labour movement remained weak, impeded by a lack of legal rights, anti-union legislation, management-organized factory councils, and political divisions between “cooperative” and radical unionists. In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the U.S. Occupation authorities initially encouraged

1558-424: The singular) is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy , outside campaigning , and heated public debate . The term continues in the media in all senses. It is sometimes used positively for celebrated legal cases for their precedent value (each locus classicus or "case-in-point") and more often negatively for infamous ones, whether for scale, outrage, scandal , or conspiracy theories . The term

1599-467: The sobriquet "Bloody Sunagawa" ( 流血の砂川 , Ryūketsu no Sunagawa ) . The climax of the protests came in October 1956, when two thousand police officers, trying to evict the farmers, attacked six thousand protesters, resulting in a thousand people injured. Despite the violence, however, the police were not able to dislodge the protesters. Due to popular disapproval, the police never mounted such

1640-404: The workers to select favored employees. Officers usually maintain their seniority and tenure while working exclusively on union activities and while being paid from the union's accounts, and union offices are often located at the factory site. Many union officers go on to higher positions within the corporation if they are particularly effective, but few become active in organized labor activities at

1681-418: Was caused by several factors, including the restructuring of Japanese industry away from heavy industries . Many people entering the workforce in the 1980s joined smaller companies in the tertiary sector , where there was a general disinclination toward joining labor organizations. Any regular employee below the rank of section chief is eligible to become a union officer . Management, however, often pressures

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