1. Organization of a Labor Union
2. Formation of a Labor Union
3. Activities of Labor Union

1. Organization of a Labor Union

      Foreign employees have the right to organize a labor union, bargain and act collectively, in order to keep and improve their working conditions. The organization of a labor union and its activities are guaranteed as basic labor rights by the Constitution of Japan and the Labor Union Act stipulates these rights in detail.
     The Labor Union Act stipulates that the requirements of a labor union that can be protected by the Act (Article 2, Labor Union Act). are as follows: a labor union shall be;
a. composed mainly of employees
b. formed autonomously
c. for the main purposes of maintaining and improving working conditions and raising the economic status of the employees.
     As a labor union is a kind of group, any employee can organize one freely at any time with the minimum of two members. There is no need to gain consent from the company. It is fine as long as a labor union is organized independently and operated democratically by the employees.
However it is desirable that a labor union be formed by as many employees as possible in order to carry out its functions.

2. Formation of a Labor Union

      Most labor unions in Japan are company ones. Some unions are formed by industry or region, not by company. For instance; joint labor unions, which in principle members can join individually,　and industrial unions which are formed by employees who work in the same occupation.
     A worker can solve problems at work by collective bargaining after joining a joint labor union as an individual, if there is no labor union in the company, or if it is difficult to organize a labor union together with at least two co - employees. There are some joint unions providing a labor advisory service in Tokyo. Labor Consultation center and its offices have a list of these unions. Please ask at the office for more detailed information.

3. Activities of Labor Union

(1) Collective bargaining
     Collective bargaining is a forum for employees and employers to negotiate working conditions from an equal standpoint. A labor union shall have the right to bargain collectively with the company for which its members work, regardless of the number of members (Article 6, Labor Union Act).
     There is no system in Japan like the exclusive negotiation representative system in the United States of America (where only a labor union that has a majority of employees is endowed with the right to bargain collectively). An employer shall not refuse to bargain collectively without proper reasons. If so, it shall lead to an unfair labor practice (Article 7- (2), Labor Union Act).

(2) Unfair labor practice
     The Act prohibits an employer from infringing on employees' rights to a union. This is an unfair labor practice. If an employer commits an unfair labor practice, an employee or the labor union is entitled to complain against such an unfair practice to the Labor Relations Commission. The Labor Relations Commission makes an investigation and hearing without delay, and if the Commission recognizes the labor practices in question to be unfair, it will issue an order to protect the employee. The following practices shall be forbidden as “Unfair Labor Practices” (Article 7, Labor Union Act);
a.　to discharge or discriminate against an employee by reason of his/her being a member of a labor union, having tried to join or organize a labor union, or having performed proper acts of a labor union;
b.　to make it a condition of employment that an employee must not join or must withdraw from a labor union;
c.　to refuse a request for collective bargaining without proper reasons;
d.　to control or interfere with the formation or management of a labor union by employees;
e.　to give financial support in defraying the labor union's operational expenditure;
f.　to treat in a disadvantageous manner an employee by reason that he/she made a complaint to the Labor Relations Commission.