January 16, 2013
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2013 January 16 - 22 [LABOR]
Sony union fights against massive restructuring |
Sony is now trying to complete a major downsizing of 3,000 to 4,000 jobs by March.
It closed its touch panel and lithium ion battery sections and sold its optical film section at its factory in Sendai City of Miyagi Prefecture, which was severely affected by the massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. The number of workers at the factory has decreased from 2,000 in 2010 to 800.
The electronics products maker is targeting all workers at the factory who are 40 years old and older with more than 10 years of service at the company. A targeted worker is forced to have what the company calls a “career interview” with his/her boss over and over until he/she accepts an early retirement plan.
In a first interview, the management side would tell workers, “We will no longer have the jobs you have been assigned to. We want you to look for a new work place within our group.” Then they would tell in the next meeting, “We cannot find a place for you to transfer within the group. Why don’t you think about starting a new career? We’re assisting employees’ early retirement.”
In the following meetings, the management would repeatedly explain the early retirement option, pressuring the workers to leave the company.
Meanwhile, the company suspends interviews with those who clearly said “no” to the retirement plan after consulting with or becoming a member of the union.
The Sony workers’ union Sendai branch is calling on factory workers to clearly express at the “career interviews” that they have no intension to quit and ask the union for assistance when needed.
On the morning of January 11, union members, accompanied by members of the Miyagi chapter of the Spring Struggle Joint Action Committee, distributed a list of 10 things workers can do to fight back against the corporate pressure to accept the retirement option.
They also made representations to Sony’s Sendai factory on the same day, demanding that it cancel the restructuring plan, stop forcing workers to accept early retirement, and continue production in order to contribute to the disaster-hit area’s reconstruction efforts.
Workers at NEC, Sharp, and Panasonic are also fighting against these electronics makers’ massive job cuts. In the Diet, Japanese Communist Party parliamentarians have taken up workers’ revelation of the companies’ coercive tactics to implement early retirement schemes. Pushed by their testimonies, the Labor Ministry on January 8 expressed that the ministry will investigate the matter.
Related past articles:
> Labor minister intends to investigate harsh downsizing moves by major electronics firms [January 10, 2013]
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