Focus on Workers? Understanding of Their Rights

When workers have an understanding of their employment rights, it is only natural that they would like to enforce these rights when necessary. However, in reality it is quite common to encounter difficulties when attempting to enforce one?s rights by oneself. It is at such times that workers are likely to understand the necessity of unions and as a result starts to consider becoming a member. On the other hand, even the case where a worker is not a member of a union or is employed at a non-unionized company, they will not feel the need to become a member if these rights are able to be enforced on their own.

Hence, it can be said that an understanding of workers? rights carries the possibility not only of enabling protection of these rights individually, but also of making workers conscious of the necessity of unions as a means to protect their rights. In short, workers? knowledge of their rights can be seen as influencing their decision to support unions as well as enhancing the ability and possibility of protecting their own fundamental rights. However, in Japan there are reports that suggest a decline in workers? level of understanding of their rights. (Hara and Sato 2004, and NHK 2003).

http://www.jil.go.jp/english/documents/JLR10_hara&sato.pdf

Corporate governance is a relatively new concept in Japan, the world’s second-largest economy.

It ranks 38th out of 49 nations, lagging behind South Africa, Venezuela and Peru, according to GovernanceMetrics International, a corporate governance ratings agency.

The scandals come on top of what analysts see as insular management styles in Japan and an insufficient number of outside directors.

Japan’s Nikkei benchmark average was the worst performing index among among major stock markets in 2007.

Restructuring and economic malaise in the late 1990s and early 2000s, as well as the erosion of Japan’s lifetime employment system weakened employee loyalty, giving rise to whistleblowers as well as making consumers more outspoken.

The paper scandal, which has enveloped other major domestic paper makers, was revealed by a whistleblower, said TV broadcaster TBS which broke the news.

It follows cases where firms sold food past its expiry date — mostly by small firms but also affecting McDonald’s Japan, which said some of its stores may have done so.

Staffing agency Goodwill Group Inc suspended on Friday all its branch operations for several months — a government penalty for breaching employment regulations when it sent out temporary workers out. It also withdrew from nursing care services last year after it inflated staff numbers.

Other high-profile scandals last year included the failure of Japan’s biggest English language school chain Nova, after fraudulent advertising.

“There have been so many scandals, I guess there are worries about what industry is going to be next,” said Takeo Omura, a corporate governance analyst at the Daiwa Institute of Research.

http://www.forbes.com/reuters/feeds/reuters/2008/01/18/2008-01-18T105019Z_01_T49215_RTRIDST_0_JAPAN-SCANDALS.html