Japan Press Weekly

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2021 June 9 - 15 TOP3 [LABOR]

Worker at ex-Sony subsidiary fighting against long-distance transfer amid pandemic

A male worker at an ex-Sony subsidiary in Miyagi Prefecture has joined a union to fight for the withdrawal of his transfer to a company office in Tochigi Prefecture, 220 kilometers away from Miyagi.

Electric components manufacturer Dexerials Corporation was established in 2012 through the transformation of a Sony subsidiary, Sony Chemical Corporation. The company is located on the premises of Sony’s Sendai Technology Center in Miyagi’s Tagajo City.

Dexerials in August 2020 announced a downsizing plan targeting its employees aged 50 and over, especially those in their late 50s, and began forcing targeted workers to accept the company’s early retirement offer.

A 58-year-old male worker in R&D has been forced to accept an early retirement offer following individual interviews which were held on a twice-monthly basis since September last year. He refused to accept the offer every time and was notified in December that he will be transferred to a Tochigi office. When the worker objected to the transfer by appealing for the need to provide care for a family member in need, the company required him to commute to the office entailing a two-hour Shinkansen bullet train ride.

The man in March 2021 joined the Sony workers’ union Sendai Branch in order to pressure the company to withdraw his transfer to the Tochigi office.

Union Chair Matsuda Takaaki said, “Workers can come up with an innovative idea only if they work under an environment free from anxieties. Dexerials should stop pushing for early retirement and imposing transfers to a distant office without consideration of family responsibilities.”

Past related article:
> Union at Sony propels its labor campaign to success [January 4, 2017]