The Organizers of Great Skill in ZENSEN-Doumei

Abstract

UA Zensen is the largest industrial trade union in Japan and has been continuously expanding its organization. This paper focuses on individual organizers who have actually achieved significant results in organizational expansion at Zensen （predecessor of UA Zensen）, and analyzes how they were trained and what kind of thinking and behavior patterns they had, using their oral histories. The findings are as follows. First, the organizer training system （on-the-job training） in Zensen was gradually developed around 1965-75. Second, the three organizers analyzed were professional and worked hard to expand the organization, and were proud of being labor activists even if their working conditions were not good. Third, the pressure to expand the organization was strong at Sensen, and their first priority was to achieve results in organizational expansion. Fourth, however, they often took the method of persuading management to form labor unions, which was possible because Zensen was feared by management.