Japan Press Weekly

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2008 February 27 - March 4 [LABOR]

Zenroren affiliated union stages protest against NTT job cut plan

The Telecommunication Industry Workers’ Union (Tsushin-roso) and the National Confederation of Trade Union (Zenroren) on February 27 jointly held a day of action pressing NTT, Japan’s largest telecommunications group, to stop its 110,000 job cut plan.

At the head office of NTT in Tokyo, protesters held signs that read, “NTT should stop violating human rights and secure the credibility and security of telecommunications,” and shouted, “NTT should fulfill its corporate social responsibility.”

In 2002, the NTT Group began to carry out a restructuring scheme, outsourcing　telecommunication jobs to affiliate companies and forcing workers from the age of 50 to accept early retirement and reemployment by subsidiaries at 30 percent lower wages.

If workers rejected the NTT Group’s offer of an early retirement plan, they would be forcibly transferred to distant offices to do a totally different job.

Iino Kazuko, the plaintiff in a lawsuit against her forced transfer to a distant office, said, “I suffer from insomnia due to stress and can’t stop using sleeping pills. NTT should take responsibility for its workers’ health and family life.”

Zenroren Vice President Ikuma Shigemi added, “Only by putting greater importance on people’s living conditions, human rights, and employment conditions, can Japan secure its future. Let’s share this idea with as many people as possible and continue our struggles until we win.”