Monks in Japan Unionizing

Complaints about pay and working conditions. [Link]

in zenkoji temple, located in nagano, a movement is taking root. instigated by an incident in which one of the tendai sect’s high priests punished a monk for insubordination by forcing him to copy sutras in a small room for two months: enraged by this form of discipline the man’s fellow monks filed a lawsuit stating that the temple authorities were violating his contract of employment.

not satisfied with the possible remedies of law and equity that the courts could offer, the monk also approached nagano’s zenroren and asked them to determine whether he had cause and standing to create a union at the temple. finding that his set wages and specifically defined hours working for daikanjin, the zenroren ruled that he was legally of the same standing as a salaryman working for a corporation and approved his petition to begin union negotiations with his monks and the temple.

the resulting agreement, dubbed the zenkoji daikanjin bunkai has already inspired monks from other sects to contact their own local labor boards and ask whether they to can create their own unions. the seeming hope among these junior monks is that one day they may enjoy better working conditions and higher wages for their work at the buddhist temples and shrines across the nation.