labor2

IBM Japan initiates tricky corporate restructuring

Disobedient workers are sent to a staffing agency and then transferred to another company for lower wages. This is a new way of cutting jobs IBM Japan tried to adopt as part of its cost-cutting restructuring. Akahata on April 21 reported as follows:

Watabe is a 48-year-old skilled engineer who has for 25 years worked for IBM Japan.

In late February, IBM Japan ordered Watabe and 23 other workers to attend a job training session at Meitec Corporation, a temporary staffing agency about 335 kilometers away from the IBM office they were working.

During the 2-day training session, they were told to learn how to make a polite bow, give a warm smile, and write their curriculum vitae.

IBM Japan ordered the 24 workers to sign a consent form in order to send them on loan to Meitec so that Meitec can transfer them to another company anywhere throughout Japan or abroad with lower wages.

IBM Japan used such a tricky way of corporate restructuring because it wanted to strengthen the company's control over workers by nailing disobedient workers to the cross.

In 2001, IBM Japan forced workers of unprofitable departments to go on loan to another company and transfer their IBM Japan status to that company with a 45-percent wage cut. While many workers reluctantly accepted the transfer, Watabe had refused the order. In return, the job given to Watabe was just "killing time" like studying how to use the computer in seclusion.

The All-Japan Metal and Information Machinery Workers' Union (JMIU) IBM Japan branch stood up against this form of corporate restructuring.

The branch, with help from the National Confederation of Workers Unions (Zenroren)-affiliated local federations, called on workers, including Watabe, to make revelations about IBM Japan's unfair practice and struggle against it.

At the beginning, in February, only four out of the 24 workers were members of the JMIU IBM Japan branch, but the membership has increased to 30.

As a result of repeated collective bargaining, the branch succeeded in derailing the tricky corporate restructuring, but the 24 workers were still out of their decent jobs.

A secretary of the branch said, "The trick of 'external assignment and subsequent transfer' is the so-called double transfer system which is against labor laws. We'll demand that IBM Japan secure our jobs." (end)