Kaneko Fumio, Yokohama Action Research Center
 
The purpose of this report is firstly to analyze the current situation and the background of non-regular employment in Japan, and secondly to clarify the attempt of organizing non-regular employees.
 
1.　Current situation of non-regular employees
(1)　Kinds and numbers of non-regular employees
The total of the employed labourer in Japan was 47.8 million in 1995.　It increased by 1.43 million and came to 49.23 million in 2005.　The number of regular employees has decreased from 37.79 million to 33.33 million, and the ratio has dropped from 79% to 68%.
On the contrary the number of non-regular employees has increased from 10.01 million to 15.91 million, and the ratio has risen from 21% to 32%.
The ratio of non-regular employees in the total employees increased from one fifth to one third through ten years.　Non-regular employees were composed of part-timers and contract employees.　The number of part-timers has increased from 8.25 million (17%) in 1995 to 10.95 million (22%) in 2005.　The number of contract employees tripled from 1.76 million (4%) in 1995 to 4.96 million (10%) in 2005.
 
(2)　Labour conditions of non-regular employees
Disadvantageous labour conditions are forced on non-regular employees in various respects compared with the regular employees.
In wage levels, when a man regular employee is assumed to be 100, a man non-regular employee is 50, a woman regular employee is 66, and a woman non-regular employee is 44.
The gap between men and women is also large.
The contract term is short, and employment relationship is unstable in non-regular employment.
Moreover, it tends to be shortened to three months or six months from one year at the contract term.
Non-regular employment is very convenient for the management side.
 
2.　The factors of increase of non-regular employees
(1)　Request of capitalist side
The reason of increase of non-regular employees is for the enterprise to try to enhance competitiveness in globalization, and to take the strategy that makes employment relationship flexible.
Nikkeiren (Japan Federation of Employers' Associations) announced the report '"Japanese management" in new age' in 1995.
It was said that the high economic growth of Japan after the Second World War was realized by the system of the lifetime employment and the seniority pay.
The report insisted the change of these employment systems.
It stressed the increasing mobility of employment and the meritocracy pay.
The report showed the idea that the employed labourers were divided into three kinds (the core employees, the professions, and the ordinary workers), and that the professions and the ordinary workers changed into the term contract employees.
 
(2)　Labour policy of Japanese Government
To improve the corporate competitiveness, Japanese Government planned and executed the new labour policy along the demand of the management side in the protracted economic recession of Japanese economy in the 1990's.
For instance, "Worker Dispatch Law" which was approved in 1985 had a regulation applied only to the limited category of business.
But the application category of business was expanded by the revision in 1996 and 1999.
The dispatch to a manufacturing factory was excluded until 2003.
After the revision in 2003 the number of dispatched workers increased in the factory.
The burden of employers is reduced because of indirect hire, and worker's standpoint weakens in non-regular employment.
Employers' interest is prior to employees' interest in Japanese labour policy.
 
3. Organizing of non-regular employees
(1)  Organizing of regular employees
The trade union in Japan is organized basically in the unit of the enterprise, and it forms the federation of industry level and national level.
There are three national level federations; that is Rengo (Japanese Trade Union Confederation, seven million members), Zenroren (National Confederation of Trade Unions, one million members), and Zenrokyo (National Trade Union Council, 150,000 members).
However, these organizations are mainly composed of the regular employees, and non-regular employees hardly participate in the trade union.
The number of those who do not participate in the union even if they are regular employees, increases, and the rate of the organization of all employees decrease every year, and it has already fallen below 20%.
Therefore, organizing of the non-regular employees is a big issue of the labour movement.
There are two approaches with the direction to organize non-regular employees.
One is enterprise based organizing, the other is community based organizing.
 
(2)  Enterprise based organizing
Because the gap of the treatment of the regular employees and non-regular employees was large in the enterprise, non-regular employees had not been accepted to the trade union that composed of the regular employees.
Recently the attempt to organize non-regular employees came to be noticeable.
For instance, the Toyota Motor trade union is starting the approach that makes non-regular employees of the Toyota hospital join the union.
However, as the gap between the regular employees and non-regular employees is large, this attempt seems to be very difficult.
 
(3)  Community based organizing
The trade union that makes non-regular employees join individually by a community base has expanded to the whole country.
There are two types in these unions.
One is UI Zensen, the other is a lot of community unions.
UI Zensen was originally a trade union of the textile industry.
As textile industry in Japan declined, UI Zensen made effort to organize non-regular employees individually from early time, and it grows up to a large union secondarily in Rengo exceeding 800,000 constituent members.
The community union is organizing mainly non-regular employees including foreign workers with a small-scale union based on the community.
Some community unions made federation, Zenkoku Union (3300 members), and joined Rengo.
But there are a lot of community unions without the parent organization.
How did these unions organize non-regular employees?
It is a main subject of this report.