Japan Press Weekly

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2012 October 10 - 16 [LABOR]

Ex-IBM workers sue against unfair dismissal

Three dismissed workers of IBM Japan on October 15 filed a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court, demanding the retraction of their dismissals and the payment of wages.

The three are members of the All-Japan Metal and Information Machinery Workers’ Union (JMIU) branch at IBM Japan.

They said that sometime between July and September, just before closing time, the company suddenly gave them a dismissal notice and kicked them out right away.

Together with the JMIU, they conducted collective negotiations and demanded that IBM Japan provide concrete facts in regard to the allegation of poor job performance, but the company still refuses to give any specific explanation.

According to the JMIU, IBM Japan is planning to reduce the estimated 14,000 workers to 10,000 over the next three years. About 200 left the company last month after being told, “If you don’t leave voluntarily, you will be fired.”

At a press conference held after submitting the case, Sugino Kensaku of the JMIU IBM Japan branch said, “IBM each year makes 100 billion yen in profits and does not meet the requirements to dismiss employees using the reason of poor business results.”

Matsuki Haruhiko, a plaintiff, said, “The reason for our dismissals is so uncertain that we decided to bring it before the court to defend workers’ rights.”