This paper focuses on local ports in relation to the Japanese dockworkers' market, and specifically analyzes how the labor union's labor supply services contribute to the adjustment of labor supply and demand and the improvement of working conditions at Niigata Port and Onahama Port. Through this analysis, the paper examines the role of local port labor unions in “modal shifts” and the significance of labor unions as a civil organization. The analysis revealed that labor unions are proactively managing the supply of labor and taking steps to improve working conditions through the practical examples of labor union labor supply services at Niigata Port and Onahama Port, which are contributing to the adjustment of labor supply and demand at local ports, and it showed the role that labor unions should play in maintaining the logistics functions of local ports. This research emphasizes the need to re-evaluate the role of labor unions in policy formation aimed at solving the issues of the local port labor market and provides a basis for specific policy suggestions.

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