Japan Press Weekly

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2013 April 17 - 23 [LABOR]

Closure of Shiseido’s Kamakura factory upsets local economy

Japan’s leading cosmetics maker Shiseido has announced that it will shut down a factory in Kanagawa Prefecture in two years, despite an expected net profit of 16.5 billion yen this business year, affecting about 700 factory workers and the local economy.

Shiseido explains that it decided to discontinue production at the Kamakura factory in Kanagawa’s Kamakura City because of the worsening of the company’s business conditions following a sales slump at home and in China.

The company booked six billion yen in extraordinary losses due to the factory shutdown, but is estimating a net profit of 16.5 billion yen in the FY 2013, up from the previous year. Shiseido has now more than 200 billion yen in internal reserves and issues to its shareholders about 20 billion yen in dividends.

The city assembly election takes place in Kamakura City on April 21. All four candidates on the Japanese Communist Party ticket are working very hard to win their victories and to encourage the city government to demand that Shiseido fulfill its corporate social responsibility in contributing to maintain local jobs and not hurt the local economy.

Informed of the closure of their workplace by email, some workers worrying about their future visited a National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren)-affiliated union for advice.

Shiseido reportedly pressured these workers not to join the union. The Zenroren member union of National Union of General Workers (Zenkoku-Ippan) is demanding that the cosmetics producer stop engaging in acts of sabotage.

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Seven female laid-off workers of the Kamakura factory have been fighting in court, seeking the withdrawal of their dismissals. Together with their supporters, they have been holding a weekly protest in front of the factory gate.

Ikeda Kazuyo, head of the seven plaintiffs, said, “We have had a hard time since Shiseido fired us. This time, the company is attempting to dismantle our workplace. I want Shiseido to cancel its plan to close the plant. I want to return to my workplace.”

Past related article:
> Shiseido’s ‘ugly’ dismissal of temporary workers [January 8, 2013]