Japan Press Weekly

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2011 November 30 - December 6 [LABOR]

Panasonic’s brutal closure of TV panel factory

Since the announcement was made for the closure of Panasonic’s liquid crystal display factory in Mobara City in Chiba Prefecture, concerns have been growing over its impact on local employment and the local economy. The following is an Akahata interview with Maruyama Shin’ichi, Chiba Prefectural Assembly member of the Japanese Communist Party, who just made representations to Panasonic in defense of maintaining employment:

Panasonic on October 31 officially announced the closure of its factory in Mobara City by the end of March next year. On August 31, the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ, an investment fund launched by public-private initiatives), Sony, Toshiba, and Hitachi agreed to merge the three corporations’ affiliated display makers and create a new company, “Japan Display”, by March next year. Then in November, it was agreed that the newly-formed company will buy Panasonic’s Mobara factory.

The biggest problem is that there is no guarantee of employment in this agreement.

Initially, the Mobara factory used to be owned by IPS Alpha Technology, a subsidiary of Hitachi Displays. Panasonic in June last year bought IPS Alpha Technology’s shares and started operating the factory as its subsidiary. The change of operator forced 160 full-time workers to be retired and many non-regular workers to be dismissed.

Leaving their families behind, some workers in the factory had to transfer to Panasonic’s other factory in Himeji City in Hyogo Prefecture, which is more than 600 km away from Mobara City. Others had to retire early or stay in the same factory with much lower wages.

The factory’s former operator, IPS Alpha Technology, was established by Hitachi Displays 5 years ago. After only 4 years it was sold to Panasonic, and the latest announcement of the closure and sellout was made a year later. In order to increase profits, these large manufacturers are selling and buying their subsidiaries without any consideration of workers’ jobs or adverse effect on local economies.

Such selfish corporate practices have been financially supported by the INCJ, which was created based on national legislation with a 15-year term limit.

Local governments’ responsibility in creating this situation must also be taken into account. In order to invite the Panasonic factory, the prefectural government decided to pay 5 billion yen, and this was followed by the Mobara City government’s decision to allocate 4 billion yen for the invitation plan. The prefecture has already provided 2 billion yen to IPS Alpha Technology and Panasonic Corp., and the city has provided 1.3 billion yen to IPS Alpha Technology.

Fighting against corporate greed, the Japanese Communist Party has always stood on the side of workers in making representations to companies as well as to city and prefectural governments, and publicizing the issue in the Diet and at local assembly meetings. We will continue to struggle with workers to defend their jobs and local economies.