Japanese Labour Law Cases Dealing with Foreign Multinational Corporation in Japan [antikvár]

1. Preface This paper will be divided into two sections: 1. facts and statisitics about industrial relations in foreign companies owned or invested in by foreign multinational companies operating in Japan, and 2. labour law cases decided by Japanese courts dealing with those of foreign companies operating in Japan. The objective of this paper is to introduce some facts and aspects of transnational industrial relations in these companies. The perspective of the paper is to try to measure the level of workers' protection provided under these industrial relations and Japanese courts to look for the underlying reasons for the various approaches. 2. Industrial relations and labour law of foreign multinational corporations in Japan A. Facts and statistics about industrial ralations and labour law The following are the results of research carried out by the Department of Labour of Japan (Roudou Shou: RS.GK) in August 1997 involving 732 (the response rate was 42.2%) foreign multinational corporations (MNCS) operating in Japan.' The percentage of foreign investment of these surveyed MNCS was more than one third of the whole capital of these surveyed MNCS. Foreign investment rankings are 1. the U.S.:37.2%, 2. Germany: 12.0%, and the U.K.: 7.5%. a) Unionization Rate and Associationization Rate While the percentage of MNCS which have organized trade unions in their establishments is 12.7 %, the unionization rate of the surveyed MNCS is 23. 2% (Table 1). This figure is lower, but close to the average unionization rate of non-MNC companies in Japan: 23.8%.- Table 1 Unionization and the Associationization Rates Neither trade unions nor employees' association 71.6% Employees' association only: 15.0% Single trade union in an establishment 10.9% Plural trade unions in an establishment 1.8% Do not know 0.7% (RS.GK, at 11, 1995) ¦ I would like to extend my gratitude to Associate Professor Josepf Hajdu of the Faculty of Law, Unversity of "Jozsef Attila" for translating my English paper into Hungarian, and to Associate Professor Aldo Ciano of the Faculty of Law, Ritsumeikan University for editing my English of this paper. ' Roudou Shou, Gaishi kei Kigyou no Roushi Kankei nado Jitsutai Chouse Ketsuka, at II, 1998) (hereinafter RS, GK, 1998). ^ Roudou Shou, Roudou Kumiai, at 15, 1998.