Japan Press Weekly

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2014 January 15 - 21 [LABOR]

French union supports ex-Nissan non-regular workers’ lawsuit

A Renault union affiliated with the General Confederation of Labour, the largest national trade union center in France, recently sent a letter to Japan’s Yokohama District Court, urging the court to make a just decision in a lawsuit filed by laid-off Nissan non-regular workers.

This fact was made public by a plaintiffs’ union, the All-Japan Metal and Information Machinery Workers’ Union (JMIU), which is a member of the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren).

The French automaker is Nissan’s leading shareholder, and its Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn also serves as the president and CEO of Nissan, meaning that Renault is regarded as Nissan’s actual parent company.

The CGT union at Renault in the letter said that during the period between late 2008 and early 2009, many workers, including the plaintiffs, suddenly lost their jobs as Nissan and its related companies slashed 8,000 jobs, most of which were non-regular jobs. It pointed out that many of the laid-off workers were unable to receive any benefits under public assistance programs. The letter argues that Nissan used non-regular workers as a disposable workforce and infringed on their rights and interests in order to increase corporate profits.

The union letter states that the Japanese car company used agency workers and fixed-term contract workers in order to evade legal requirements for dismissals and make it easy to conduct corporate downsizing.

The Renault CGT union stressed that Nissan, an appendage of Renault, fired non-regular workers in violation of an agreement that the union concluded with the Renault Group. In the agreement called the “Global Framework Agreement”, the Renault Group promises to defend its global employees’ labor, social, and human rights.


Past related article:
> Non-regular workers sue Nissan over dismissals [May 13, 2009]