The subject of this paper is what kind of policy the management took to counter the labour union movement at the Hokkaido Coal and Shipping Company, called Hokutan, after the First World War, and how industrial relations at Hokutan was reformed.
Hokutan became a affiliated enterprise of Mitsui Zaibatsu in 1913, and then the paternalistic policies were enforced there. The labour union was organized at Hokutan in 1919, the peak of the post-war boom. It was based on the consciousness as producer of mine workers. To control the mine workers against the labour union, the management organized the organization of employees, Issinkai, which fulfilled the function of the roundtable conference of labour and management and mutual aid association according to the idea of corporation of labour and management.
The management carried out the wage cuts because of the damage due to the post-war crise in 1921. So the labour union went on strike in opposition to the wage cuts. At last the issue of this dispute was whether the management approved the labour union as a bargaining body or not. After this strike, the labour union was ruined, and the authority of negotiation about labour conditions was given to Issinkai. And the management succeed to make use of Issinkai to control the mine workers according to the idea of corporation of labour and management.
