Tokyo City Tram Dispute

A collective term for 30 disputes (17 of which were strikes) that took place from the opening of the Tokyo Municipal Electric Bureau on August 1, 1911 (Meiji 44) until the call for "industrial cooperation" was made in 1937 (Showa 12). The first dispute occurred in December 1911, just five months after the opening, over the distribution of dissolution allowances for the Tokyo Railway Co., Ltd. following its transfer to municipal management. A partial strike took place on the 30th, and a full line strike took place from the 31st to January 1st of the following year, with socialist Katayama Sen involved. On September 3, 1919 (Taisho 8), the Japan Transportation Workers' Union was formed, with Nakanishi Inosuke as chairman, and a strike took place demanding improved working conditions, with an eight-hour workday and daily wage system as its core elements. Strikes were held, but the union was defeated and the union was destroyed within eight months. Later, on June 25, 1929, the Tokyo Transportation Workers' Union was formed, and infuriated by the announcement of a 20% cut in bonuses and a halt to salary increases, it called for a strike on December 5th, going on strike on the 6th. A settlement was reached through mediation by the Superintendent General of the Metropolitan Police, but the following year rationalization was forced through, and the dispute flared up again, with a full-line strike from April 20th to 25th, but was defeated. When personnel reductions and salary cuts were announced in July 1957 and September 1959, labor and management again came into conflict, leading to a major dispute. On January 12, 1962, a proposal to sell the city tram was proposed, causing trouble, but as the war was progressing, the union decided to cooperate with the situation in October of the same year, advocating "industrial cooperation" and abandoning "militancy."

[Ryuichi Narita]

"History of the Tokyo Transportation Workers' Union" edited by the Tokyo Transportation History Compilation Committee (1958, Tokyo Transportation Workers' Union)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1911年（明治44）8月1日の東京市電気局開庁以来、37年（昭和12）に「産業協力」が唱えられるまでに行われた30回の争議（うち罷業17回）の総称。最初の争議は、市営移管に伴う東京鉄道株式会社解散手当の分配をめぐり、開庁わずか5か月後の1911年12月に起こった。30日に一部罷業、31日から翌年1月1日まで全線罷業で、社会主義者片山潜(せん)が関与している。19年（大正8）9月3日には中西伊之助(いのすけ)を委員長とする日本交通労働組合が結成され、8時間労働制・日給制を骨子とした待遇改善要求を掲げて争議。罷業も行われたが、組合側が敗北、同組合は8か月にして壊滅した。のち、29年6月25日には東京交通労働組合が発足、賞与2割減・昇給停止の発表に憤激し12月5日罷業を指令、6日より総罷業に入った。いったんは警視総監の調停で妥結したものの翌年合理化を強行したため再燃、4月20日から25日まで全線罷業をしたが敗北。32年7月、34年9月に人員整理・減給が発表されたときも労使が対立、大争議となった。37年1月12日には市電身売り案が提案され紛擾(ふんじょう)を醸したが、戦争が進展している時期であり、組合は同年10月に時局に協力、「産業協力」を唱え、「闘争主義」を放棄した。

［成田龍一］

『東交史編纂委員会編『東京交通労働組合史』（1958・東京交通労働組合）』

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