NTT workers will be further hurt after their transfer to affiliate companies

NTT, Japan's largest telecommunications group, will establish subsidiaries to outsource jobs as part of its corporate restructuring. NTT employees 50 and older are asked to accept their transfer to those subsidiaries at reduced salaries. But to their surprise, one of those subsidiaries to be established by NTT already has drawn up job cuts plans in anticipation of business losses.

This was discovered in a document published on January 25 by an NTT project team on establishing subsidiary companies.

Under NTT's restructuring plan, all workers age 50 and over will be forced to quit NTT and be hired by subsidiaries at 70 percent of their previous salaries.

The document said that a newly-established company in the northern Kyushu region will extend its business to include "cemetery cleaning" and "lunch box delivery," and dismiss 778 employees in order to reduce the deficit which is estimated at 6.8 billion yen in fiscal 2002 to 300 million yen.

The NTT management has said that those employees who agree to their transfer to affiliate companies will be able to work until 65 and choose the place of work. But affiliate companies will not keep these promises.

The Telecommunication Industry Workers' Union Chair Iwasaki Shun on February 17 issued a statement criticizing NTT for deceiving the workers who have trusted the company management and decided to follow its instruction to quit the company and take jobs at affiliate companies.

Iwasaki demanded that NTT make public all information about affiliate companies and ask again all workers which company they want to work for.

He also demanded that the unlawful system of "retirement at 50 and reemployment with decreased wages" be abolished.

Iwasaki called on all NTT workers to unite together to fight against NTT's human rights violations and age discrimination. (end)