Datsun DB-5

The Great Nissan Strike of 1953

The Americans weren't the only auto workers in the world holding lengthy strikes during the post-war years. During the early 1950s a strong left-wing union had essentially taken control of the shop floor. In the company's official history, the five-month strike of 1953 is portrayed as a triumph over a communist union. The heart of the matter, however, was over the union's control not only of wages but also of promotions, the pace of work, and job assignments. In effect it was a fight over control the factory's shop floor, which was now basically run by the left-wing union. This union organized powerful shop committees throughout the Nissan factory. These committees, consisting of one member for every ten workers came to control overtime work assignments and employee transfers.

By 1953 Nissan had finally had enough of the state of affairs in it's factories, with the support of Nikkeiren, the new national management federation, which feared that the Nissan committee system would spread, and with special loans from the government's Industrial Bank and the private Fuji Bank, Nissan took advantage of a strike over wages called early in the year by the union and used it as an opportunity to confront and destroy the union. The company succeeded. By late 1953, a second union called the All Nissan Auto Workers Union was formed, which became the dominant union, and the first union collapsed as it lost control.