ECONOMY-JAPAN: Measures Urged to Help Workers Expose Corrupt Business

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Jan 19 2004 (IPS) - When Toshiaki Kushioka, 58, decided to reveal secret price rigging at the transportation company for which he worked, little did he know he was in for a nightmare.

His action – blowing the whistle on his company’s practice of overcharging clients to boost profits – became a watershed event in Japanese business ethics. Previously, the tradition of life-long employment and rigid social norms ensured that employees suppressed their own principles in the company’s interest. Kushioka, however, broke out of that mold.

“I first told my boss that what we were doing was wrong and against the interests of the public but when he didn’t listen I went to the press. Then began my descent into hell,” he wrote in his book, “Whistle Blower”. Published in 2001, the volume describes his long battle to protect his integrity and usher in reforms – even at the expense of threats to his family and intimidation so intense he sought psychiatric treatment.

Awareness of corporate ethics has begun to bud since then but calling ‘foul’ remains a daunting challenge for employees. The Japanese term for whistle blower, “naibu kokuhatsu”, means “informer”, creating an image of betrayal and distrust, detested traits in a society marked by strict hierarchy.

“It’s particularly hard to become a whistle blower in Japan where worker loyalty outweighs individual interests,” said Katsunuma Ogawa, a spokesman for the group Public Interest Speak-up Advisors. Men face particularly tough reprisals for going against their employers, he added.

Ogawa’s organization, launched three years ago, aims to promote transparency, fair corporate competition, and better human rights protection in Japan.

“These issues,” he said, “are sadly neglected in Japan despite rapid industrialization and economic growth which has largely been based on close interaction between high level bureaucrats and businesses at the cost of individual rights.”

“Old values that don’t promote the interests of the public must change,” added Ogawa.

The group, which offers whistle-blowers counseling and legal help, takes on an average of one case per month after weeding out what Ogawa described as personnel complaints rather than reports of unethical practices in the workplace.

The 3,000-member group sees its role as challenging a system in which authority figures are rarely questioned. This has contributed to a lack of corporate transparency since officials and bosses rarely take responsibility for their actions, according to the group.

Even so, whistle blowers have brought a spate of new scandals to light over the past few years. Corporate managers and bureaucrats have been implicated in schemes to boost personal profits at the expense of public safety.

Haruho Fujii, the powerful president of the Japan Highway Public Corporation, was forced to resign last August after a subordinate leaked to the media that Fujii had issued false profit statements.

Fujii fought back by accusing the whistle blower of unveiling “problems not worthy of his position” but public anger forced politicians to finally sack the top bureaucrat.

In another precedent-setting case, a whistle blower at Tokyo Electric Power Company revealed that the state-owned utility had used potentially dangerous tactics to conserve energy at its nuclear reactors.

The power plants subsequently were shut down and the government issued both an apology and a promise to conduct regular inspections.

Revelations of cover-ups also have forced management to acknowledge the benefits of information disclosure.

Several companies have launched new services aimed at collecting anonymous complaints from workers on the understanding that solutions and reforms will be hammered out internally.

In addition, the government has promised new legislation aimed at protecting whistle blowers from loosing their jobs, signaling a major departure from the old corporate loyalty practices.

While no punitive measures against employers has been proposed, the Social Policy Council under the Prime Minister’s Office has issued a statement saying that whistle blower protections are aimed at safeguarding consumers from corporate cover-ups.

Corporate ethics activists have also said they hope that with companies hiring more part-timers to cut costs amid economic recession, there will be more workers who will be willing to speak out against corrupt managers.

Still, the going likely will be slow against deeply ingrained labour practices. Advocates have called for laws that go beyond protecting whistle blowers by ensuring they receive rewards and promotions for forcing companies to come clean.

“Employees are still hesitant to blow the whistle and be labeled an informer. But we have to start somewhere,” said Ogawa.