Construction industry unionism in Japan

The dominance of enterprise unionism is the most widely known characteristic of Japanese unions. The Japanese construction industry, however, does not accord to this pattern. Rather, craft or occupation remains the dominant form of union organisation with enterprise unions being a marginal feature. In this respect union organisation in the Japanese construction industry has more closely paralleled that of the West. This thesis seeks to explain why union organisation in the Japanese construction industry did not mirror the dominance of enterprise unionism found in other Japanese industries. In so doing it will also seek to provide an alternative explanation of the emergence of enterprise unionism in Japan. The study consists of two parts. The first part examines mainstream unionism in Japan; the second part analyses the specific pattern of unionism found within the construction industry. Methodologically, the study has three different comparative dimensions. The most basic comparison is with the English case, and the development of Japanese key industries is measured by its relationship with this original case. The second comparative dimension is of the development of key industries and the construction industry in Japan. The third dimension is a comparison within the construction industry of trade sectors. Through these three comparisons, construction industry unionism is examined. These three dimensions have different frameworks. The first dimension is made up of the most basic theoretical elements, such as division of labour, the extent of the market, and the type of capital. The key analytical element for the second dimension is the difference among labour markets and especially the difference between internal and external labour markets. The third dimension is analysed through a particular concept: Labour Market Consciousness. This analytical tool is used to explain why a union is organised by a particular group of workers and excludes other workers. The main findings are that the domestic nature of the construction industry has been a main contributor to the creation of its unique unionism, differentiating it from the unionism of other industries. Generally, current Japanese unionism may be characterised as Japanese business unionism, but in the construction industry this is not the characteristic.