> On 2006/03/30, at 21:10, Jerry Monaco wrote:
>
> > You mean there is a place in the world where workers have due-
> > process rights. Merciful Zeus! What could be next! Democracy?
> > You mean in France an employer couldn't fire me simply because he
> > doesn't like the color clothes I am wearing or the fact that I
> > don't look good in or out of stilleto heels or because I voted for
> > Ralph Nader or Pat Paulsen?
>
> Although you could not really vote for either Nader or Paulsen in
> France, you'd have to restrict yourself to the Communist
> Revolutionary League presidential candidate, or the Communist Party
> candidate, or the Green candidate etc, who must all be French
> citizen...
>
> You'd have the right to be a union member, and as such have specific
> rights within any company (mostly the right to attend union meetings
> and represent any worker in collective negociations etc).
>
> But basically yes. There are, how would you call those, "fast
> process" ? labor courts (Tribunal des Prud'Hommes) that would settle
> any labor contract infringement within weeks if not days. Most of the
> times, employers don't want that hassle so they negociate.
Japan is also about to establish a system of labor courts (set to begin in April 2006): <http://www.law.uiuc.edu/publications/CLL&PJ/archive/vol_25/issue_4/ SugenoArticle25-4.pdf> <http://www.jil.go.jp/english/documents/JLR09_Kezuka.pdf>. Here's an Akahata article about it:
<blockquote>Labor Tribunal System to start in April
The new labor tribunal system (LTS) will start on April 1 as part of the effort to seek prompt and efficient settlement of individual labor disputes over dismissals and alteration of working conditions.
In a bid to use this new system in the best interests of workers, the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) held a meeting on February 16 in Tokyo to study the new system in which 51 Zenroren- recommended members were appointed to the tribunal by the Supreme Court.
Individual labor disputes over dismissals and wage cuts used to take a long time. The LTS will be set up at 50 district courts throughout Japan in order to settle these labor disputes with not more than three tribunals. A tribunal is made up of a three-member committee consisting of two tribunes (one from labor and one from management) and a judge. This is the first legal procedure with the worker taking part in the process of seeking settlement through consultations.
Five hundred tribunes will be appointed from labor and management respectively.
In a published speech in the study meeting, Zenroren President Bannai Mitsuo said, "The appointment of 51 Zenroren members to the tribunal is historic. Let us struggle to defend the jobs and rights of non- regular and unorganized workers."
In 2004, 820,000 cases of labor disputes were filed with local labor bureaus. There were about 160,000 individual labor disputes brought in, but only 1 percent were settled.
Workers have high expectations for the new system to help bring about impartial and prompt settlements of labor disputes. But problems remain in that there is the possibility that judges in tribunals will propose monetary settlements even though the corporate dismissal order is judged to be null.
- Akahata, February 17, 2006 <http://www.japan-press.co.jp/2468/labor3.html></blockquote>
Yoshie Furuhashi <http://montages.blogspot.com> <http://monthlyreview.org> <http://mrzine.org>