Mr Rodger impressed in Japan

Press, 17 December 1985, Page 18

Mr Rodger impressed in Japan

Japan’s industrial harmony has so impressed the Minister of Labour, Mr Rodger, that he has urged. New Zealand employers and unions to try Japanese methods as a way to restore industrial peace. Company-level talks between management and unions on a close, regular basis were worth trying, he said.

But after watching the work pace at some of Japan’s robotised factories, he balked at blanket acceptance of that country’s industrial relations system.

“The lessons are here for New Zealand but we have to be selective,” he said.

Mr Rodger was speaking in Osaka, Japan’s second city and the home of major electronics manufacturers, after an intensive inspection tour of Nissan (car), Yamaha (motor-cycle), NEC and Toshiba (both electronics) industrial relations methods.

On Thursday he opened

New Zealand’s first Consu-late-General in Osaka, headed by Mr Michael Lear, aged 38, formerly of the New Zealand Embassy in Tokyo. The office will encourage trade and tourism from the Kansai region (Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto). The fast-moving, fasttalking Mr Rodger went on the shopfloor of factories where automation — at Nissan car plant, robotisation — has put the companies among world leaders in productivity. He admitted being surprised at the low level of stocks held by factories. One plant held only enough components to last a few hours. New parts keep arriving from outside subscontractors as completed orders move out. But the lesson he saw for New Zealand was the regular, close consultation within companies by unions and managements working together. —Copyright, NZ Japan News.