JTUC-RENGO’s Views on Business and Human Rights
I.

Introduction

 There is a broad awareness that the Guiding Principles on Business and Human
Rights (hereafter “UN Guiding Principles”), adopted unanimously by the United
Nations Human Rights Council in 2011, has become the international norm on thesubject. In the document, the duty and responsibility of the state and corporation,
respectively, are clearly stated as the three pillars of business and human rights,
which are “the state duty to protect human rights,” “the corporate responsibility torespect human rights,” and “access to remedy.”
 Efforts toward business and human rights have drawn attention, for instance with
the Japanese government formulating its Guidelines for Respecting Human Rights
in Responsible Supply Chains (hereafter “Guidelines”) in September 2022.
 Trade unions are special stakeholders within corporate activities and have a
responsibility to take positive action, including to lobby employers throughindustrial relations and to cooperate with other stakeholders.
II. Current Status of and Issues in Business and Human Rights
1. Current Status Due to advancing globalization, multinational corporations have appeared thathave an economic scale that surpasses that of states, and a diversity of corporatetransactions are increasing both domestically and internationally. While theactivization of corporate activity has beneficial aspects, it is becoming impossible
to ignore negative impacts on human rights.
 Human rights violations in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Myanmar, andother countries and regions have become international issues, resulting in action
being required throughout the entire supply chain. Further, with workplaceharassment and human rights violations against foreign workers also becoming
apparent in Japan, greater attention is being given to business and human rights
both domestically and internationally in recent years.
 Along with the enactment of the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act in Germany, theupgrading of legislation is accelerating in the West in recent years. Further, in theaftermath of the Rana Plaza collapse accident (April 2013) in Bangladesh,“accords on fire and building safety” are being concluded between global union
federations (GUFs) and corporations, and efforts are being made to expand
targeted countries.
 Based on this situation, efforts are moving forward, with, for example, theJapanese government formulating an “Action Plan (2020 to 2025) on ‘Businessand Human Rights’” (hereafter “Action Plan”) and Guidelines, and KEIDANREN(Japan Business Federation) revising its Charter of Corporate Behavior.
2. Issues
 There is a deep-rooted awareness that efforts for business and human rights
issues are the responsibility of business enterprises and there is insufficientawareness among both labor and employers that this is a problem that tradeunions should be involved in.
 In general, the awareness that problems concerning business and human rights
occur overseas is as yet deep-seated. At the same time, including in trade unions,
there is as yet only a weak awareness that problems such as contempt for tradeunion rights, harassment and discrimination, and human rights violations against
foreign workers inside Japan are also problems of business and human rights.
 While the government has formulated the Action Plan and Guidelines, the situationis that it is hard to say that these have fully permeated into all business enterprises
and are being implemented. In addition, it cannot necessarily be said that
understanding of business and human rights is moving forward within JTUCRENGO as a whole.
 Responses to business and human rights among small and medium enterprises(SMEs) are also lagging. While enterprises in general may be the perpetrators ofproblems such as contempt for trade unions inside the enterprise, harassment anddiscrimination, and human rights violations against foreign workers, SMEs may be
the victims of fair-trade problems, but efforts for this are not spreading. In addition,
there is an increased possibility that a company may suddenly become the targetof human rights due diligence and that, for example, ordering companies may
require appropriate responses and the disclosure of information, but support for
SMEs in the form of publicity for the government’s Guidelines and assistance inresolving issues is inadequate.
III. JTUC-RENO’s Basic Views on Business and Human Rights
1. Efforts toward the Respect for Human Rights are JTUC-RENGO’s Inherent Social
Responsibility
Article 5 of the RENGO Principles clearly states, “We will respect human rights
and not discriminate based on factors such as race, sex, physical traits, age, creed,or family origin , nor allow such discrimination to occur.” JTUC-RENGO’s inherent
social duty is to create a society where human rights are respected by having eachorganization of JTUC-RENGO make multilayered efforts to that end.
In addition, when talking about business and human rights, there is a tendency
to emphasize the viewpoint of the suppression of management risks and increases
in corporate value, but the UN Guiding Principles requires efforts from theviewpoint of tackling the risks of human rights violations against rights holders,
including workers. On this basis, JTUC-RENGO will take action on this issue byplacing the pursuit of social justice and the respect for human rights in a central
position.
2. The Significance of Trade Unions Becoming Involved in the Issue of Business andHuman Rights
Through day-to-day industrial relations, one of the roles of trade unions is tobring up issues related to workers’ human rights, such as raising the level ofoccupational health and safety in the workplace through summarizing the voicesof the workers and preventing harassment, and then taking action to resolve these.

In addition, as many business and human rights issues have a close relation to the
day-to-day activities of trade unions, we are making efforts to resolve issues
through dialog at the levels of the JTUC-RENGO Headquarters, industrial
federations, local organizations, as well as the government, industry, andcommunities.
Through responses to business and human rights issues, trade unions candeepen their understanding of the relationship of business and human rights with
day-to-day activities, gain a new recognition of the significance of their activities,
and further promote their activities.
Moreover, involvement in the process of human rights due diligence, which
includes identifying the risk of human rights violations in corporate activities,
preventing human rights violations, mitigating their negative effects, andremediating them, trade unions can contribute not only to the realization of
rewarding workplaces where human rights are respected but also to themaintenance and improvement of corporate social value and sustainability.
Furthermore, by being involved in this series of processes, relations of trust
between labor and management will strengthen, leading also to the creation of
constructive industrial relations.
It is crucial to make efforts while holding to the viewpoint that involvement inbusiness and human rights issues is also an opportunity to build constructive
collective industrial relations.
3. The Necessity for Trade Unions to Make Efforts as Special Stakeholders in
Corporate Activities
Workers are the bearers of business activities. Among the various stakeholders
surrounding the business enterprise, as workers and trade unions exist inside theenterprise and are related closely and over long periods of time with the employers(the business enterprise), they can be said to be special stakeholders in corporate
activities. Based on the fact that the involvement of trade unions appears
throughout the Government’s Guidelines, regardless of the scale or businesscategory of the business enterprise, or whether it has overseas transactions or not,it is necessary that all trade unions that are affiliated with JTUC-RENGO pushforward their efforts in their workplaces.
In particular, business enterprises and SMEs that do not have overseas
transactions tend to have a weak awareness of business and human rights, but it
is still necessary to make efforts to safeguard human rights in the transactional
relations of the enterprise and within Japan from perspectives such as fair trade,and the government should provide positive support for this. In addition, as thecentral government and municipalities are also related to economic activities
through, for example, public procurement (public contracts) and outsourcing to
private businesses, they are also required to respond to business and humanrights issues.
Responses to overseas labor disputes, as in the past, has been an issue forbusiness enterprises that have an overseas supply chain. It is expected that, in
association with heightened awareness of business and human rights both
domestically and internationally, problems arising from workers, trade unions, andothers who are related to overseas transactions and procurement will increase.

It is therefore essential that trade unions affiliated with JTUC-RENGO broaden
their field of vision to the possible existence of all human rights issues in their own
enterprise’s domestic and international supply chains and strengthen their ability
to respond to these human rights issues. Especially, it is necessary to raiseawareness that the company may be asked to respond about the suppliers withwhich it does not have a direct contractual relationship.
4. Human rights issues that should be stressed and addressed by trade unions
The UN Guiding Principles identify the human rights that companies should
respect as internationally recognized human rights, which are, at a minimum, thehuman rights expressed in the International Bill of Human Rights and the ILO's
Core Labor Standards.
Trade unions are expected to address human rights issues that are particularly
relevant to workers and trade unions. The five areas of the ILO Core Labour
Standards (freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, forcedlabor, child labor, discrimination, and occupational health and safety) should betreated with the greatest emphasis, as they are fundamental human rights at work.
In addition, efforts must be made with an awareness of gender equality in all areas.
The risks of human rights violations and human rights issues to be focused on
differ depending on the size of the company, type of industry, and whether or not it
has international transactions, and depending on the situation of each company
and workplace, it is necessary to address working conditions (wages, working
hours), social security, harassment, sexual minorities, foreign labor, fair trade,public procurement (public contracts), human rights issues in domestic andinternational supply chains, technology, AI, environment and climate change. It
should also be noted that in overseas cases, compliance with the domestic lawsof the country concerned is not only insufficient, but may also be inconsistent withinternational standards.
5. Promotion of Efforts as the Whole of JTUC-RENGO Based on the UN Guiding
Principles
At present, various regulations have been formulated on business and humanrights, including the Japanese Government’s Guidelines and legally binding
legislation in Europe and the United States. However, some of these rules are notin conformity with the UN Guiding Principles due to considerations of domestic
circumstances. JTUC-RENGO regards the UN Guiding Principles as the mostimportant document to rely on, and base its response on the content given in thethree pillars of the Guiding Principles. In doing so, also referring to the Guidelines,
the OECD "Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises" and "Due Diligence
Guidance," and the ILO "Tripartite Declaration of Multinational Enterprises,"
RENGO headquarters, member organizations and unions (including GUFs Japan
affiliates), and local federations will work together to implement JTUC-RENGO
initiatives as a whole.

IV. Concrete Responses of JTUC-RENGO as a Whole for Business and Human
RightsThe main actors making efforts for the three pillars of the UN Guiding Principles andthe corresponding JTUC-RENGO organizations are organized as shown in thefollowing table, and concrete responses to business and human rights are detailed foreach section.
The Three Pillars of the UN Guiding Principles
The state duty
to protect
human rights

The corporate
responsibility
to respecthuman rights

Access to remedy

Main actor making efforts
Corresponding RENGO organization· General state
regulations and policy
functions· Cooperation between
the government andbusiness enterprises· Support for therespect for humanrights by businessenterprises in regions
impacted by conflict· Securing policy
consistency· Commitment throughbusiness enterprise
policy· Human rights due
diligence· Remedial efforts· Responses based on
the situation at hand

· State-based judicial
proceedings· State-based nonjudicial grievancemechanisms· Non-state-based
grievancemechanisms· Criteria ofeffectiveness of nonjudicial grievancemechanisms

Effortsby thegovernment

Efforts bystakeholders suchas businessenterprises,
governments, andtrade unions

Efforts bystakeholders suchas businessenterprises,
governments, andtrade unions

JTUC-RENGO
Headquarters

JTUC-RENGO
Headquarters,
Industrial
Federations(GUFs),
enterprise-based
unions, and local
RENGO
organizations

JTUC-RENGO
Headquarters,
Industrial
Federations(GUFs),
enterprise-based
unions, and local
RENGO
organizations

1. JTUC-RENGO Headquarters(1) Government lobbying
1) Promotion and Review of the Action Plan, Future Legislation, Securing the
Involvement of Trade Unions in Related Policies and Measures
The Action Plan and the Guidelines should be reviewed based on the facts that thesituation regarding business and human rights is constantly changing and that there
some clauses that are not in conformity with the UN Guiding Principles. Specifically,
while participating positively in the government’s “Action Plan Promotion Round-Table
Conference and Working Groups” and other forums, publicizing the Action Plan and
Guidelines, encouraging implementation and requesting the formulation of guidelines
for each business category, JTUC-RENGO Headquarters will request reviews after acertain period of time has passed in accordance with the implementation status andthrough a verification of effectiveness. At the time of verification, we will also cooperatewith industrial federations and make appeals so that the content appropriately reflects
the realities in the workplaces. Additionally, depending on the status of the verification,
we will also demand legislation that mandates the implementation of human rights due
diligence and other matters. In combination with this, JTUC-RENGO Headquarters will
also request that trade unions are always involved when there is consideration of any
government policies and measures related to business and human rights.
2) Efforts through Actions to Realize Policies and Institutions
There are also many business and human rights issues mentioned in the JTUCRENGO’s "Policy and Institutional Demands and Recommendations" and "Priority
Policies", as well as in policies determined by the central organs, etc., for timely
individual policy responses by JTUC-RENGO. Specifically, toward the realization ofdecent work, these are, i. early ratification of as yet unratified ILO Core Labor
Standards and full implementation of previously ratified conventions, ii. the realizationof gender equality and the prohibition of harassment, iii. respect for the rights of foreign
workers, iv. the prohibition of discrimination (on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion,
skin color, gender, age, disease, disability, family origin, sexual orientation and gender
identity, etc.), v. strengthening of support for SMEs and the realization of fair trade, vi.
securing of transparency in public procurement, and vii. strengthening of the functionof the Japan National Contact Point (NCP) and the Japan NCP Committee, etc.
Through the lobbying of the government on these items, JTUC-RENGO Headquarters
will make efforts to improve the situation regarding business and human rights,
including the handling of structural issues that are difficult to resolve by individual
business enterprises, industries, or local areas.
(2) Efforts during the JTUC-RENGO Spring Struggle for a Better Life
Based on the fundamental idea that business and human rights issues should be
addressed by all the organizations of JTUC-RENGO, we have incorporated theimplementation and promotion of efforts regarding business and human rights into the
JTUC-RENGO Spring Struggle for a Better Life to promote such initiatives.

(3) Promoting Information Gathering and Provision, and Awareness-building that will
Contribute to Encouragement of Efforts by industrial federations and Enterprisebased Unions As corporate supply chains extending throughout the world, in order to take action
to protect human rights along the entire supply chain it is vital to gather informationon the status of human rights and trade union rights in each country at all times.
JTUC-RENGO Headquarters will strive to gather and provide information bycooperating with the international labor movement, including the ITUC and ITUCAP, OECD-TUAC, the ILO, and the national centers of each country.
 As trends in legal improvements overseas have impacts on policies and measuresof the Japanese government and Japanese private enterprises, JTUC-RENGO
Headquarters will therefore continue to strive to gather and provide information onsuch trends.
 JTUC-RENGO Headquarters will cooperate with industrial federations and GUFs
in, for example, holding study meetings and providing tools and materials for
publicity and educational for the purposes of sharing information on international
norms such as the UN Guiding Principles, etc., government policies and measures,the status of promotion of the understanding of business and human rights both
domestically and internationally, and best practices.
(4) Cooperation with Economic Organizations and Other Stakeholders
Discussions on business and human rights involve not only trade unions andeconomic organizations, but also other stakeholders such as civil society organizations
and researchers, and other stakeholders. When taking action such as to lobby thegovernment, JTUC-RENGO Headquarters will respond in a coordinated manner, either
individually or by conducting an exchange of views among multiple parties.
(5) Making Efforts through Utilization of the International Trade Union Network
It is also necessary to promote the understanding on business and human rights oflocal trade unions in the many Asian countries to which Japanese business enterprises
have extended their business, and JTUC-RENGO Headquarters will cooperate with
relevant organizations such as JILAF and the ILO. Additionally, based on the status ofefforts throughout JTUC-RENGO, JTUC-RENGO Headquarters will also strive toreflect the views of and provide information on related discussions in, for example,
ITUC and ITUC-AP, OECD-TUAC, and the ILO.
2. Industrial Federations (RENGO Affiliates)
Industrial Federations will make efforts on the following while also cooperating withrelated GUFs
(1) Formulation of Action Policy
Industrial Federations will formulate action policies that contribute to efforts made bymember enterprise-based unions. At that time, and while being based on the UN
Guiding Principles, the action policies will be formulated according to the actual
situation in each organization with regard to, for example, the method of setting up a

forum within the business enterprise for labor and management to grapple withbusiness and human rights issues; bringing up human rights risks and issues specificto each industry and to the business enterprises in which the enterprise-based unions
are organized; the scope for conducting and addressing human rights due diligence inboth domestic and foreign transactional partners and suppliers; and conducting
training workshops for enterprise-based unions.
(2) Formulation of Guidelines for Each Business Category through LaborManagement Dialog in Each Industrial Sector
As there are many cross-company issues, industrial federations should gain a firm
grasp of the issues through cooperation, exchanges of views and so on with sectoral
management organizations for each industry type and GUFs, and relevant ministries
and agencies. Having done so, while requesting the formulation of guidelines for eachbusiness category industrial federations should, as necessary, strive to be involved in
the formulation of the guidelines.
(3) The Construction of an International Trade Union Network and the Conclusion of
Global Framework Agreements (GFAs)
As issue resolution through cooperation among industrial federations, individual
unions, and GUFs are effective in addressing grievances related to business andhuman rights, such as overseas industrial disputes, industrial federations should strive
to construct international trade union networks.
Further, the conclusion of global framework agreements enables labor-management
dialog across international borders and is an effective action, since GFAs can lead tothe improvement of the human rights situation along the entire supply chain, to theprevention of the occurrence of industrial disputes in advance, and to organizing
through a shared awareness of the freedom of association and collective bargaining.
Industrial Federations should consider the conclusion of agreements in cooperation
with GUFs and enterprise-based unions.
(4) Addressing Business and Human Rights through Organizing
As responses through collective industrial relations are effective and crucial in
addressing business and human rights issues, industrial federations should take action
to organize along entire supply chains while cooperating with GUFs and member
enterprise-based unions.
3. Enterprise-based Unions(1) Efforts by Trade Unions
1) Formulation of Action Policy
Based on the industrial federations’ action policy, enterprise-based unions will
formulate action policies in accordance with the actual situation while confirming thehuman rights issues, etc. that trade unions should address in their own businessenterprises.

(2) Items to be Requested of Business Enterprises
1) Securing Training Opportunities in the Trade Union’s EnterpriseEnterprise-based unions should request that business enterprises implement
education and training for business and human rights as related to the enterprise’s
human rights policy, international norms such as the UN Guiding Principles, and how
to address issues with transactional partners. Based on in-house workshops and soon, enterprise-based unions should grasp the human rights situation while clarifying
the overlaps with items for which efforts are being made within the day-to-day union
activities.
1) Securing Labor-Management Consultation Opportunities that Address Businessand Human Rights Issues
It is necessary to create forums for consultation and consideration within thebusiness enterprise as a premise for involvement in business and human rights issues.
Enterprise-based unions should strive to institutionalize labor-management dialog on
business and human rights by, for example, addressing human rights in existing labormanagement consultation forums or, as necessary, requesting the establishment of acommittee or organization for consultation.
2) Effective Involvement in the Business Enterprise’s Process of Making Efforts for
the Respect of Human Rights that are in Alignment with the UN Guiding Principles
 Formulating a policy on the respect for human rights is the first step in the businessenterprise’s efforts. If there is no policy, then enterprise-based unions should
encourage the enterprise to formulate a policy, and in the case that a policy alreadyexists, it should be checked to see if the content conforms to the UN Guiding
Principles and the latest situation, requesting revisions where necessary.
 Through such forums as labor-management consultation, enterprise-based unions
should encourage the enterprise to conduct human rights due diligence. At thattime, not only the human rights situation in the enterprise-based union’s enterprise,
the enterprise-based union should also request that the enterprise include in its
targets for examination responses to unpaid wages, dismissals, discrimination,and harassment in the enterprise’s entire domestic and overseas supply chain, as
well as adverse impacts on human rights that originate from or are related to theentire supply chain’s products and services. Further, enterprise-based unions
should provide local-level information that it has gathered and conduct exchangesof views that will lead to a resolution of the issues.
 As grievances related to business and human rights may potentially arise in all
business enterprises, enterprise-based unions should encourage theestablishment of a grievance mechanism, such as the setting up of a contact point
for consultation that can be used by stakeholders inclusive of all workers along theentire supply chain, not simply in the enterprise-based union’s enterprise. When agrievance arises, the enterprise-based union should become positively involved in
the addressing of the grievance. At that time, while cooperating, as necessary, withindustrial federations and GUFs, the enterprise-based union should also consider

remedial action on the union’s own initiative through collective bargaining andlabor-management consultation. Use of external organizations should also be
considered when it is thought that actions such as gaining meaningful advice fromexperts would contribute to an effective resolution.
 Enterprise-based unions should request that the business enterprise assess anddisclose information on its series of human rights due diligence efforts.
4. Local RENGO Organizations(1) Requests and Exchanges of Views with Municipalities and Local Management
Organizations
It is also possible that problems related to business and human rights arise in suchareas as public procurement (public contracts) and private business outsourcing
engaged in by local non-organized business enterprises, local industries, andmunicipalities. While conducting necessary policy and system requests withmunicipalities and central government regional branch offices using, for example, the“Local Manual for the Realization of Policies and Systems” prepared by JTUC-RENGO
Headquarters, local RENGO organizations should engage in exchanges of views on
business and human rights in each local areas with local management organizations.
Additionally, making use of “smiles and energy platform,” local RENGO organizations
should engage in dialog with local stakeholders such as SMEs.
(2) Remedies for Human Rights Violations through Labor Consultations, etc.
As problems related to business and human rights, such as human rights violations
against foreign workers, are already occurring in local areas, appropriate responses toindividual cases should be implemented through, for example, labor consultations andthe formation of trade unions. For instance, efforts should be made for support andorganizing through the supply chain, including enterprises to which work has been
consigned, in cooperation with related industrial federations and enterprise-based
unions, etc. toward remedial action for the human rights violations case(s).