New postal union finding its feet / JPU merger with Zenyusei creates nation's largest corporate labor union

The Japan Postal Union (JPU) and All Japan Postal Office Labor Union (Zenyusei)–two of now privatized Japan Post’s biggest unions–merged on Oct. 22 to form the nation’s largest corporate labor union.

With 220,000 members, Japan Post Group Union (JP Union) eclipses NTT’s 180,000-member labor union. Zenyusei Chairman Yoshikazu Yamaguchi became the first chairman of the merged union, while JPU Secretary General Shozo Namba landed the post of secretary general.

JPU, with a membership of 137,000, had indicated a strong interest in a merger, while Zenyusei, with 83,000 members, was hesitant about a tie-up over concerns it would be overwhelmed in the JPU, observers said.

However, the merger plan was pushed through more quickly as the administration of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pressed on with privatization.

JPU and Zenyusei had agreed to oppose postal privatization, and although the agreement was only a formality, it proved successful in allowing the two to coordinate their efforts in opposing the changes.

But as the country’s largest union, JP Union will now have to bear the heavy responsibility of tackling a number of thorny issues.

First and foremost is the question of what it will do in the annual wage negotiations in the spring. The union of NTT Corp., which was privatized in 1985, has been taking part in the joint annual spring wage negotiations as a private corporate union since NTT was privatized.

Akira Yamagishi, the first chairman of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), came from the NTT union. In contrast, none of the JPU leaders were chosen for leadership positions in the defunct General Council of Trade Unions of Japan (Sohyo) and Rengo.

Although one of the chairmen of the defunct Japan Socialist Party was a member of JPU, the union did not have a strong voice in the labor movement because internal differences meant its leadership lineup was changed repeatedly.

Zenyusei, for its part, failed to make its presence felt among government and public workers unions.

Next year’s spring labor campaign will therefore provide a useful insight into the JP Union’s future direction.

In addition, there are questions over how much distance the JP Union will keep from the management of the privatized entities. Corporate downsizing is unavoidable at a private firm whose business has deteriorated. Restructuring efforts might include personnel cuts through transfers, secondments and early retirement as well as a review of operations.

One JP Union official commented: “It’s very hard to increase earnings while maintaining regional services. So labor and management will need to work together in finding a new business model.”

The mail delivery business has already been affected by a sharp increase in the number of nonregular workers. Labor and management have signed an agreement on a system opening the door to nonregular workers to become regular workers. Improving working conditions for nonregular workers will be essential to facilitate any expansion of the JP Union.

This may run counter to the needs of a private firm that is seeking to increase efficiency. But if the JP Union seeks only compromises with management, it will have less of an impact than it might otherwise have, despite its size.