This study aims to describe the actual use of grievance procedures by the General Union (GU) in Japan and to elucidate its characteristics. In Japan, grievance procedures typically function as private dispute resolution systems established by agreements between labor and management within companies. However, GU utilizes grievance procedures even in companies without such agreements. On the other hand, Community Unions propose collective bargaining to resolve individual labor disputes of union members. GU employs grievance procedures to mitigate the burden of collective bargaining on individual grievances, focusing on fostering and sustaining collective labor relations while expanding its organizational reach.

Most previous studies on labor-management relations have focused on large enterprises; labor-management relations in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have often been regarded as merely non-institutional or fluid. The Japan Metal, Manufacturing, Information and Telecommunication Workers’ Union (JMITU) has advocated for a unique labor-management relationship model called “consensual and cooperative labor-management relations.” The labor-management relations of Sanshi Ltd., an SME machine-tool manufacturer, under which the Sanshi branch union of JMITU was organized, has been regarded as a model case of “consensual and cooperative labor-management relations.” In the past, Sanshi Ltd. had been run by the founder family in its own way, but the Sanshi branch union led the democratization of management in the mid-1970s; “consensual and cooperative labor-management relations” were institutionalized within the enterprise. This study qualitatively analyzed interview data and documents to clarify the institutionalization process and the characteristics of the final form of Sanshi Ltd.’s “consensual and cooperative labor-management relations.” The results demonstrated that the Sanshi branch union, with its strong bargaining power, could exert significant influence on both management’s strategic decision-making and working conditions under the corporation’s “consensual and cooperative labor-management relations.”