Japan Press Weekly

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2019 June 19 - 25 [LABOR]

Union petitions Industry Ministry to stop forcible job cuts by Renesas

The Denki-Joho Union which organizes individual workers in the electric and information industries on June 19 petitioned the Industry Ministry to instruct leading semiconductor maker Renesas to terminate its policy of forcing its engineers to accept early retirement.

Renesas since 2012 has dismissed 29,000 workers which is equivalent to 60% of its total workforce. Nevertheless, the company seeks to cut another 1,000 jobs while investing one trillion yen to buy out two U.S. companies. The semiconductor maker also plans to suspend the operations of six factories in Japan for two months.

The petitioning was held at an office of Japanese Communist Party parliamentarian Kasai Akira in the Lower House members’ office building with the presence of Industry Ministry officials.

In the petitioning, Denki-Joho Union chair Maita Tokuji stressed that skilled engineers who play a central role in semiconductor manufacturing have been forced to leave the company, which may severely affect the industry.

A male engineer, who is targeted for the company’s job-cut plan, stressed the need to push the company to withdraw its plan to temporarily shut down the six factories by pointing out that even a short-term suspension of factory operations would make it difficult to maintain constant quality control of products.

Another male engineer, who has been forced to accept early retirement following a total of seven personal interviews, said, “Renesas intends to dismiss more workers than its original job-cut target in order to discourage workers from opposing company policies.” He went on to say, “Pursuing short-term results, the company has spent a huge amount of money for the acquisition of U.S. firms and minimized the expense of R&D activities which take a long time to produce outcomes. In addition, the company implements harsh downsizing measures, including power harassment by superiors. This has caused a lack of motivation among Renesas workers.”

In response, an Industry Ministry official said, “The ministry believes that semiconductor companies have an important role in the Internet of Things (IoT) Era. We will discuss the matter with Renesas.”

Past related articles:
> Labor bureau advises Renesas to not transfer workers to distant workplace against their will [December 2, 2014]
> Union fights against Renesas’s harsh downsizing [August 24, 2013]