Japan Press Weekly

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2024 January 10 - 16 [LABOR]

Yamato part-timers keep their jobs by joining labor union

Akahata on January 11 reported that Japan’s largest delivery company, Yamato Transport Co., even after withdrawing its plan to dismiss part-time workers doing direct mail-sorting work, forces these workers to reluctantly resign through various means including giving distant transfer orders.

This was revealed in consultations provided by a light freight union affiliated with the All Japan Construction, Transport and General Workers' Union (Kenkoro). Part-time workers talked about their experiences: “I was told by my boss that there is no job that fits me,” and “I was asked to accept a relocation to another workplace as far as 50 kilometers away from my home.”

Yamato planned to dismiss part-time mail sorters at the end of January 2024 based on an agreement with Japan Post in June 2023 to transfer Yamato’s direct mailing service to Japan Post.

The Kenkoro-affiliated light freight union head, Takahashi Hideharu, referred to the fact that part-timers who joined his union succeeded in protecting their employment.

Part-time workers at the company’s logistics terminal in Ibaraki Prefecture in October last year participated in the union in order to push the company to withdraw its dismissal plan. In a collective bargaining session, they won a company decision to withdraw its layoff plan and make reassignment offers acceptable to union members. In addition to Ibaraki, in Yamaguchi and Aichi prefectures, unionized part-time workers obtained a desired result through union negotiations with the company.

Takahashi said to Yamato part-time workers, “Come and join us for job protection!”

Past related article:
> Union wins withdrawal of layoffs of Yamato Transport part-timers [October 28, 2023]