能力給(電産型賃金)の査定基準  [in Japanese] Assessment Criteria of "Noryokukyu" in the "Densan Wage System"  [in Japanese]

The "Densan wage system" was the first wage system in post-war Japan. Subsequently, it was adopted across industry, business and public agencies, and is thus well known as the basis of all Japanese wage systems. Although there are currently changes taking place in various wage systems in non-governmental industries - in transport, media, education (private high schools and universities) - the "Densan wage system" is used in roughly the same format now. And even now, the wage system of national government civil servants and local government civil servants has the same format. In 1946, the year after Japan lost the war, an industrial union with 140,000 workers in the power industry as well as the Japan Power Workers Association Conference (Densankyo) were set up, and the "Densan wage system" was approved through consultations between government and management groups in the Central Labour Relations Commission, as well as through labour strikes and collective bargaining with management groups of ten companies. During this period, the unprecedented industrial disputes known as the "national five minute power stoppage strikes" (the October power struggle) took place. Both the fact that the wage structure had been created by the workers themselves and the fact that through consultations, disputes and negotiations between management and government the structure was approved and established, was the first and last in the history of Japanese capitalism. The "Densan wage system" is well known as the model for "Japanese seniority wage system". "Japanese seniority wage system" is based on "seniority" (age and years of continuous employment) and "merit" (achievements and extent of contributions). The "Densan wage system" is undoubtedly a wage based on "seniority" (age and continuous employment), which also includes assessment based on the number of family members. This seniority component accounts for 80% of total wages. The problem is whether or not the wages should include a component based on "merit" (achievement and contribution). The key to solving the problem is to include a component of "Noryokukyu" (around 20% of total wages) in the "Densan wage system". If an assessment of "merit" is included in "Noryokukyu", the "Densan wage system" becomes a seniority wage. If an assessment of "merit" is not included, it should be regulated with a living wage (a wage which guarantees a minimum lifestyle). What kind of characteristics does the "Noryokukyu" have? There has been much debate over this between researchers in the past; however, it appeared that my manuscript, Densangata Chingin no Sekai (The World of the Densan Wage System), published by Waseda University Press in 1999, re-ignited debate surrounding "Noryokukyu". I examined the formation process of the "Densan wage system" in the October power struggle (1946), and presented a view that "Noryokukyu" was attempted to assess the "merit pay" from the side of labourers. Accordingly, in this manuscript, I present a new view from observations based on new material I have discovered on how the "assessment criteria" of "Noryokukyu" was discussed and went into effect in management-labour consultations after the "October power struggle" (1946). (Waseda Journal of Human Sciences, 18 (1):1-17, 2005)