Oki paid workers 70 million yen in unpaid overtime

Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd., Japan's major electronics maker, in April paid 70 million yen in back pay to about 500 employees for their overtime work.

This amount is the largest ever made by the company, as is the number of workers paid. It brings the total amount of back pay Oki has paid since last year to about 100 million yen.

In March 2002, Oki worker Sugano Motoshi filed a complaint about his unpaid overtime with the labor standards inspection office. Later Yoshikawa Haruko, Japanese Communist Party Upper House member, brought up the issue in the Diet and the government promised to investigate the company. Yoshikawa's action promoted the labor standards inspection office to conduct on-site inspections at Oki and Sugano received 2.5 million yen in back pay from his employer.

Sugano's revelation of Oki workers' situation forced the company to investigate their unpaid overtime. (end)