January 5, 2013
A factory of Takamisawa Electric, a Fujitsu-affiliated electric component maker in Nagano Prefecture, was to be shut down 14 years ago. The unity of the workers who joined the All-Japan Metal and Information Machinery Workers’ Union (JMIU) Takamisawa Branch has enabled the factory to continue to exist.
Back in 1999, the parent company announced that it will close the factory and dismiss all the employees. The condition of early retirement the company presented was a 40% cut in wages and a 200-hour-increase in work hours at another subsidiary.
The company-dominated union accepted it saying, “It will be no use in struggling. The company has Fujitsu backing it.” However, the JMIU branch in which 100 out of the 350 factory workers were members rejected the company proposal. A JMIU member recalled that a company executive at a labor-management talk was in tears as he talked about the 100 workers remaining in the factory.
At the cost of 75 million yen, the company built a wall, called by workers the Berlin Wall, in the middle of the factory in an attempt to divide workers in the factory and the subsidiary. Even the outside parking lot was separated. The JMIU members were deprived of their work. They were ordered to weed, make repairs, or shovel the snow from the factory premises every day. Some of them had no work for five years. They have had no pay raise since 2002 and no bonuses since 2003.
With “struggle will open a new horizon” as their slogan, they hung in there. They finally achieved victory by winning the resumption of bonus payments in 2010 and obtaining a pay increase in 2011.
In the meantime, the company-controlled union in the subsidiary accepted a performance-based pay system and a temporary-employed system as desired by the company. As a result, almost all employees of the subsidiary, including temps and rehired workers, got laid off after the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers.
Late last year, the JMIU branch members held their general assembly meeting in the factory cafeteria. Their supporters from the area filled the seats, and messages of encouragement sent from all over Japan covered the cafeteria wall.
A woman member, who reached retirement age after 45 years of work at the factory, said, “I was able to keep going because I have a lot of trust in my coworkers.”
The JMIU branch leader, Kobayashi Toru, is proud of being a member of the only union in the Fujitsu Group which fights for workers. He said, “We have won our rights, such as equal pay for equal work for men and women and a maternal protection system. Working conditions here are the best for female workers.”
Back in 1999, the parent company announced that it will close the factory and dismiss all the employees. The condition of early retirement the company presented was a 40% cut in wages and a 200-hour-increase in work hours at another subsidiary.
The company-dominated union accepted it saying, “It will be no use in struggling. The company has Fujitsu backing it.” However, the JMIU branch in which 100 out of the 350 factory workers were members rejected the company proposal. A JMIU member recalled that a company executive at a labor-management talk was in tears as he talked about the 100 workers remaining in the factory.
At the cost of 75 million yen, the company built a wall, called by workers the Berlin Wall, in the middle of the factory in an attempt to divide workers in the factory and the subsidiary. Even the outside parking lot was separated. The JMIU members were deprived of their work. They were ordered to weed, make repairs, or shovel the snow from the factory premises every day. Some of them had no work for five years. They have had no pay raise since 2002 and no bonuses since 2003.
With “struggle will open a new horizon” as their slogan, they hung in there. They finally achieved victory by winning the resumption of bonus payments in 2010 and obtaining a pay increase in 2011.
In the meantime, the company-controlled union in the subsidiary accepted a performance-based pay system and a temporary-employed system as desired by the company. As a result, almost all employees of the subsidiary, including temps and rehired workers, got laid off after the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers.
Late last year, the JMIU branch members held their general assembly meeting in the factory cafeteria. Their supporters from the area filled the seats, and messages of encouragement sent from all over Japan covered the cafeteria wall.
A woman member, who reached retirement age after 45 years of work at the factory, said, “I was able to keep going because I have a lot of trust in my coworkers.”
The JMIU branch leader, Kobayashi Toru, is proud of being a member of the only union in the Fujitsu Group which fights for workers. He said, “We have won our rights, such as equal pay for equal work for men and women and a maternal protection system. Working conditions here are the best for female workers.”
