JMIU, hope for Nikon workers

"I'm not going to leave." Encouraged by a democratic labor union, a number of Nikon workers are now giving a firm rebuff to early retirement coercion by management.

Nikon Corporation, an internationally known optical instrument maker, is planning to reduce its workforce by 1,000 personnel, targeting workers aged 45 and older. The Nikon chairman is busy persuading employees that a slowdown in business makes the restructuring program inevitable. The company offer, "Now is the last chance to get early retirement bonus payments," is inducing the workers to leave.

The company union, which a majority of the employees belongs to, has accepted the company-proposed restructuring plan, but more and more workers, irrespective of their union affiliation, are now seeking advice from the All-Japan Metal and Information Machinery Workers' Union (JMIU) Nikon Branch.

A 55-year-old employee was pressed to leave the company at a one-on-one interview with management. After a long period of distress, he called a colleague who was a JMIU activist. The colleague advised him to say "No" to the high-pressure proposal of the company. In the next interview, the worker firmly said, "I'm not going to leave." The company gave up persuading him to quit voluntarily. He told other colleagues about his experience, and many workers then started to refuse the early retirement coercion.

A worker in his 50's who joined the JMIU Nikon Branch after turning his back on the company union said, "Workers are always sufferers, but if we stand united, 'spring' will surely come. This is the value of the existence of us and workers' unions."

JMIU Nikon Branch Chair Tada Yasuhiro said, "Nikon isn't in a business downturn. It has employed an additional 2,000 workers abroad in the last two years. The restructuring program is a sign of further decline in Nikon's manufacturing technology under the name of "cost reduction." (end)