Abstract
Since the 1990s, the economy has become increasingly globalized and companies have more frequently changed main production sites in order to reduce labor costs. This change has caused severe problems for corporate management since complex cross―border production processes and supply chains are difficult to manage. On the other hand, the last two decades have witnessed the emergence of Global Framework Agreements （GFA） between labor and management. A GFA is an agenda of action in which a company and a union cooperate to adhere to conditions in the eight International Labour Organization （ILO） core treaties. It is also a joint declaration of labor and management to address social responsibility and maintain decent work conditions. In Japan, there are only three such agreements, signed at Takashimaya, Mizuno, and AEON in 2007, 2011, and 2014, respectively. From these cases, we have identified three common objectives. First, GFAs are intended to benefit regular as well as non―regular workers. Second, they attempt to expand the level of social responsibility for supply chain management. Third, in response to global industrial relation conditions, they seek to disseminate Japan’s cooperative industrial relations practices when the nation’s firms set up operations overseas.
