es by public employees, but they did not produce valuable labor monopolies. Instead, the effective bargaining units in wage negotiations in Japan remain mostly enterprise unions, as noted, and these unions have
             been effective in raising wages for many: "Japan's infrequency and short duration of strikes is a poor
             indication of the effectiveness of its labor unions at obtaining higher wages for their members. The smallness of losses due to strikes in Japan means only that there is little discrepancy between the unions' and employers' information regarding the employers' maximum willingness to pay a premium for union member services" (Flath).
             The members of a Japanese union tend to be "relatively homogeneous and have had a longer time in which to observe the behavior of their employer. For
             both these reasons, it is quite natural to suppose that union members in
             Japan should be relatively well-informed regarding their employers'
             willingness to pay a premium for their services" (Flath).
             In the 1980s, there were 74,500 trade unions represented by four main
             labor federations: The first was the General Council of Trade Unions of
             Japan (Nihon Rodo Kumiai Sohyogikai, commonly known as Sohyo), with 4.4
             million members, including a substantial percentage representing public
             sector employees. The second was the Japan Confederation of Labor (Zen
             Nihon Rodo Sodomei, commonly known as Domei), with 2.2 million members.
             Third was the Federation of Independent Labor Unions (Churitsu
             ...