Competing interests of labor unions laid bare at TV Asahi

On July 25, the Japan Federation of Commercial Broadcast Workers' Unions (Minpororen) confirmed that TV Asahi Corp. had left the organization. Strictly speaking, it was the company's labor union that quit Minpororen, though in Japan the distance between labor and management is smaller than it is in many other countries since labor unions in Japan tend to be company-based.

TV Asahi's reasons for leaving are not crystal clear, but some media have theories, including the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun, which suggested it was ostensibly about money. Minpororen is part of a larger labor federation called MIC Union, which protects the interests of workers in "mass media, information and culture," including publishing and advertising. Members pay union dues to Minpororen, and TV Asahi's labor union is one of the biggest in the industry. Minpororen derives about 15 percent of its annual revenue from the station.