JAPAN provided the first example of the economic restructuring that has become known as the 'dual economy.. Based on this development, over the last decade, the entire traditional, left reformist, structure of the Japanese labour movement has been dismantled — to be replaced by domination of 'company unionism' on the trade union field and coalitionism with bourgeois parties on the political field. understand how the polities of an Eric Hammond came to dominate an entire labour movement, REDMOND O'NEILL interviewed YOHICHI SAKAI, a Japanese socialist activist.
THE Japanese workers movement started in a meaningful way only after the first world war - and under the direct impact of the Russian revolution. Then between 1935 and 1937 the entire workers' movement was suppressed. During the war there was no organised workers movement at all.
After 1945, when Japanese im perialism was defeated and occupied by the US, there was a massive mobilisation of the Japanese working class and the rapid expansion of a new trade union federation led by the Japanese Communist Party (JCP). This, at its peak, organised two million workers.
The victory of the Chinese revolution 1949 was tollowed by the Korean war and the intensification of US imperialism's attacks revolutionarv struggles in the region. Within Japan, the US occupying power and the Japanese bourgeoisie launched a frontal assault on the trade union federation led by the JCP. As a smashed and resull lnc UHOl was most of the CP members sacked.
The Korean war itself created a boom situation for the Japanese economy and accelerated its recovery. A new Socialist Party (SP)-led reformist trade union federation was set up in 1950/51 called Sohyo. By 1953/4 the Japanese economy recovered its pre-war peak of production. On this basis of economic recovery workers' militancy began to revive.
The political orientation of the Japanese Socialist Party which was the dominant majority current in Sohyo was left reformist: against US imperialism, against the US/Japanese security pact, against the rebuilding of Japanese military forces, in defence of democratic rights, and with third worldist international positions. There was a solid bloc between the SP, the reformist trade union movement and the JCP.
There was also a very straight, rightwing pro-American, social democratic minority in the SP which split to form the Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) in 1959.
1957 1960 bourgeoisie launched an offensive which was successful on the trade union level but not on the political level.
The key fight was in the coal in. dustrv. The miners union was led by a current similar to the Scargill current in with the employers- with a ten month strike and occupations of the mines. But the miners were defeated. To the large numbers.
Against this background, in the early sixties, a new right wing company: trade union current began to develop amongst the workers in the big factories in the private sector. It inserted itself into fundamental division worktorce Core In Japan, in the big factories, there are two categories of lifelong employees and casual, contract workers. Women are not part of the core the - the majority of women working in the private sector are part-time.
In the sixties this systemn was generalscu ana systellatis. ed. Only lifelong employed workers were unionised and casual contract workers were excluded from the company union. The unions of the different companies of a particular sector such as automobiles then united into an industrial federation; the same happened in steel, in chemicals, in ship building reformist the restricted, by the 1970s, to the smaller factories.
The domination private sector employees minority. 'dual economy' front between movement.
number 1975-6 the Japanese economy became the union Japan went economic contraction perialist economy It had financial control over mally, lifelong employees and there are no contract or casual employees. The public sector was the main base of the left reformist traditional trade unions.
private sector the traditional trade unions were mainly of the 'core' workers in the big factories of the secured by bourgeoisie in the 60s and early 70s was the first stage in dismantling the traditional reformist labour movement in This was Japan. But on the political level the right-wing still remained weak and a the 1980s.
The the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) and Sohyo throughout this period. From the mid-sixties to the early seventies SP/JCP control of local councils expanded to almost all big cities in Japan. They were domination supported by the reformist trade union became complete.
Rationalisation The second stage in the process came after the 'oil shock' of 1973. For Japan the 1973 oil crisis marked the end of prolonged economic expansion. In Coll tracted for the first time since 1949.
through WOlSI of any imat that time. In Tepanese bourgeoisie caried out an in- 1975 1977, tensive rationalisation of the economy First, the government tightened its Local govern ment. This deprived the SP/JCP controlled municipalities of the ability to grant reforms. The bourgeoise and the right wing then began a campaign to break up the CP/SP united front. This tobacco and was accompanied by a wiich hunt privatsea. against the current within the SP most committed to the SP/JCP united front.
By the early 1980s JCP/SP control over local government was broken. The SP began to move to the right and adopted a line of coalition with the DSP, the Bhuddist party, and even the government Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) at municipal level.
Secondly, in the private sector, from 1975 to 1978, the Japanese bourgeoisie carried out the biggest industrial rationalisation of any imperialist country.
the springboard for its end. economic success at the beginning of core/periphery system was introduced into local government with the contrac ting out of various services The rail which was the backbone of Sohyo throughout the 1970s, was completely defeated. Its membership was reduced from a peak of 150,000 to 30,000. The railway system was privatised and broken up into six private regional railway companies. The whole structure of the reformist trade union movement which had existed since the 1950s came to an