SNA (Tokyo) — The phenomenon of “working without a job” is gaining pace around the world, showing no signs of slowing down. But what does working without a job mean? Many readers may have no idea what I’m talking about. This phrase refers to working without employment; meaning that one has zero rights as workers under labor laws. The number of individual contractors, freelancers and the like, is increasingly at an astonishing rate.

A prime example in our post-Covid world is Uber drivers and deliverers, who sign–not an employment contract–but rather a gyomu-itaku (operation services) contract. They thus are not considered to be rodosha (workers) with regular labor law protections. Other examples include IT and design gigs; and those who handle psychological and other counseling. In the latter category is Naohiro Hirata, whom I interviewed for this article, as you will see below.

The government is promoting this work-without-a-job model with everything it has. It began under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but his successors Yoshihide Suga and Fumio Kishida have maintained the same policy line. In the background lay the interests of big business, represented by Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), large corporations, and recently even Rengo (Japanese Trade Union Confederation). The last of these organizations is, sadly, the union federation to which I myself belong.

Together, these forces are obsessed with figuring out how to obliterate the job security benefits which became a core feature of postwar Japanese society.

The advances of neoliberal policies have not escaped criticism. This is why Kishida promoted (at a rhetorical level) his concept of “New Capitalism.” This was supposed to soften the sharp edges of Abenomics and put more emphasis on the livelihoods of ordinary people. But, as in other cases, Kishida has maintained the previous policies while presenting them to the public with a softer face. Abe and Suga were like comic-book villains. But Kishida may be far more dangerous precisely because he comes off as being reasonable and moderate.

At any rate, the Workshop Report on Working Without Employment (March 2017), produced by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), had this to say about the phenomenon under consideration:

Work without employment, with the ability to choose the time or place of work, could become an important option for workers facing time restrictions due to childbirth, childcare, or daycare; as well as for workers who want to work as they please without subordinating themselves to a corporation. Establishing this workstyle as an option holds the key to realizing flexible work… Ensuring the free choice of workers to change their workstyles according to the stage of life they are in–being employed by a corporation during one period of their life, then working without employment during another period–and spreading such flexible workstyles, will become important in view of the increasing longevity of the coming era.

It’s complete dissociation from reality lends this flowery government language a certain la-la land aspect. The hard reality is that the national government is colluding with employers to pulverize job security. Removing labor law protections from workers liberates corporations, not workers. The corporations are being released from the myriad obligations which had been won over many decades through the labor rights struggle. It is a giant gift bestowed to the bosses, but is presented as being some kind of improvement for worker lives.

Naohiro Hirata belongs to the National Union of General Workers Tokyo Tobu (Tobu Roso), a close ally of my Tozen Union. He majored in psychology, continued those studies in graduate school, and then started working at Shobi University in Saitama Prefecture as a student counselor. He signed a gyomu-itaku service provider contract rather than a regular employment contract.

After enduring harsh criticism for a single mistake at work, the university unilaterally informed him that his contract would be terminated.

In recent years, more and more students are suffering serious psychological issues. The Covid pandemic upset the mental balance of many students, and some found themselves no longer able to cope with college life. This, in turn, dramatically increased the need for counselors who can attend to the afflictions of each individual student. Such counselors often work from morning to night because students show up continuously asking for help. The counselors must deal with heavy topics and sometimes interact with the students’ parents or caregivers. It’s not hard to understand that such an occupation can take a heavy physical and mental toll on its practitioners.

However, most educational institutions offer few benefits to counselors and psychologists. They often set contract periods at six months or one year, which causes anxiety each time the contract comes up for renewal. Countless zero-hour contracts pay by the hour with no possibility for raises, bonuses, or severance pay.

Hirata was treated like an individual services provider with a gyomu-itaku rather than a regular contract. Upon first hearing about these employment terms, he was a bit concerned to see the word gyomu-itaku at the top. But the conditions and details seemed roughly the same as the other employment contracts he had worked on up until that point, so he signed on.

When later notified of his termination, he was shocked to be told that he had never been employed. The reality then hit him like a hammer–he possessed no labor protections at all.

The university took away Hirata’s job in a unilateral and crude fashion. He had worked there for a long time, fancying himself to be a rodosha, and then one day, out of the blue, he was told he had no rights.

But Hirata didn’t roll over and play dead; he fought back. Spearheading the counteroffensive was the labor union Tobu Roso.

Here is an account of my recent interview with him:

Okunuki: You were naturally stunned when the university told you they were terminating your contract.

Hirata: It was truly an emotional nadir for me. I had worked four days a week, but the counselors I worked right next to had contract employee status. That means they were rodosha who had signed employment contracts. They and I did exactly the same work. Yet, they were workers protected by labor law and I was just an individual services provider with no such protection. I was on a completely different legal footing.

Okunuki: Did you know what a gyomu-itaku contract was when you first signed it?

Hirata: Well, yes… but the details written were almost exactly the same in terms of workdays, work hours, days off, work duties, and stuff like that. The position of counselor is highly competitive since there are so few jobs out there. So, even though I was a bit concerned, I was in no position to be choosy when it came to employment. I signed on the dotted line.

Okunuki: You majored in psychology and then worked as a licensed psychologist at Shobi University. Why do you think the university suddenly told you you were being terminated?

Hirata: There are two things I can think of. One is that I made a mistake once when dealing with parents. The other is that I voiced my dissatisfaction with the university’s Covid policies. I only made that one mistake, but the university may have viewed me as an annoying troublemaker.

Okunuki: Since you couldn’t accept things as they were, you looked for a union to join. Of all the unions out there, what made you choose Tobu Roso?

Hirata: It was a chance meet. I Googled around for a labor union which has many members in my field, including counselors and clinical psychologists like me. The first hit I got was Tobu Roso’s local Konin Shinrishi Union (Licensed Psychologists Union).

Okunuki: Had you ever been involved in a labor union before that?

Hirata: Never. The mental wellness profession is one that lacks job security for the most part, so I just couldn’t manage to get into the idea of joining a labor union and embarking on a long campaign to improve working conditions. Colleagues around me had accepted the lack of security from the start, simply giving up. The notion that we ourselves could take action and effect some manner of change was simply inconceivable to the overwhelming majority of us. Embarrassing to admit, but I too felt that way until this thing happened to me.

Okunuki: I think the importance of counselors is growing in our overstressed, modern society. But is it that hard to find stable working conditions?

Hirata: Yes, it is. I originally entered the field as a civil servant, but after leaving that position, I struggled with the reality that every single employment ad was for a fixed-term, part-time position. I always felt as if others saw me as somehow downtrodden. Then I myself turned petty, narrow-minded, hot-tempered, and bitter. Looking back, I realize that when you are treated shabbily, you yourself become intolerant and ungenerous. I felt firsthand how victims can quickly metamorphose into sadistic offenders.

Okunuki: I suppose what you say now is a bit of self-analysis by a professional counselor.

Hirata: Oh, no, no (laughs). I can finally now look at myself objectively–straight in the face–because my case has already been settled. The psychological damage to rodosha who are robbed of their dignity and treated like disposable objects is extraordinary. In that sense, a labor union helps workers help themselves to recover physically and mentally. Words like rentai (external solidarity) and danketsu (inner group solidarity) become more than academic musings–they come alive. Tobu Roso is indeed a fighting union. Sugano-san, Suda-san, and the other members come stand outside my company, raise their angry voices on the street, and make speeches… for me. The member directly concerned with the struggle invariably falls into melancholy, moping around in a morose mood, and unable to express their feelings in words. But union comrades told the university what I wanted to say. Seeing that dynamic with my own eyes endowed me with extraordinary power. It naturally made me wonder what I could do to support someone else. That is why, even after my case was resolved through reconciliation, I remained, and remain, active as a member in Tobu Roso.

Okunuki: First, it’s great that you were able to reach reconciliation. Are you satisfied with the conditions of the agreement?

Hirata: I am satisfied. My only minor regret is that I was unable to get the university to admit that they had falsely painted me as an individual services provider when I was in fact a rodosha. But the union fought together as a unit. At first, I was terrified and insecure, but after our relentless fight, we compelled the university to conclude a reconciliation agreement. The general tendency in society remains just to cry yourself to sleep, but I encourage everyone to muster their courage and to fight instead.

Okunuki: The expression “working without a job” really means being in an extremely weak, unequal position. You experienced firsthand how weak are workers on their own, making labor union solidarity even more necessary. Your story made me understand that the power of labor union solidarity has nothing to do with the old or new way of doing things; rather, union solidarity is timeless and universal. Your fight holds particular significance today as the government pushes to expand these policies. Thank you for your story, Hirata-san.

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