Union membership under 20% for first time in postwar era

Union membership under 20% for first time in postwar era

The proportion of unionized workers in Japan stood at an estimated 19.6 percent as of the end of June, down 0.6 percentage point from the previous year, according to the labor ministry.

This is the first time for the figure to drop below 20 percent since the end of World War II, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said.

The rate has fallen to new record lows annually for the past 22 years, reflecting a decline in the influence of labor unions here.

The number of company employees totaled 53.73 million as of the end of June, up 250,000 from a year earlier.

Of these workers, the number of labor union members numbered 10.53 million, down 269,000.

The manufacturing sector saw the biggest decline in the number of unionized workers, at 144,000.

It was followed by the financial sector, at 38,000, and the transport sector, at 37,000.

The figures reflect job cuts in these sectors.

The number of unionized part-time workers meanwhile increased by 38,000 to 331,000, accounting for 3 percent of these employees.

Union members accounted for a smaller portion of the workforce at both larger and smaller Japanese companies.

Among big corporations with more than 1,000 employees, the proportion of unionized workers stood at 51.9 percent, down 2.9 percentage points.

The corresponding figure among midsize firms with a workforce of between 100 and 999 stood at 16.6 percent, down 0.2 points, while the ratio for smaller firms with less than 100 workers was 1.2 percent, according to the ministry.

Among major labor organizations, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) had a membership of 6.87 million, down 138,000, the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) had 993,000 members, down 25,000, and the National Trade Union Council (Zenrokyo) had a membership of 166,000, down 5,000.