Japan Press Weekly

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2014 August 20 - 26 [LABOR]

Megabank’s new employment plan has large loopholes

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU), one of Japan’s megabanks, announced in July a policy to turn its fixed-term employees into non-fixed-term workers starting in April 2015. This policy, however, leaves room for the bank to dismiss non-fixed-term employees when it streamlines its operations.

The BTMU has about 10,000 employees with terminable contracts, accounting for approximately a quarter of all its employees. Almost all of the fixed-term workers are engaged in essential jobs.

According to the new employment policy, even if terminable contracts are converted into non-terminable ones, these workers are unable to get the same treatment as regular workers. If the bank reduces or abolishes some services or moves its business offices to other places, these workers may be fired accordingly.

In collective bargaining sessions, a workers’ union claimed that the company should negotiate with the union over its rationalization plan before finalizing it.

The union has some experience in having the company cancel its plans to discharge workers.

When integrating banking online systems in 2009, the finance company announced that it will move operations at the Osaka branch to the Tokyo branch as well as sack Osaka office workers. Meeting with protest from the union, the firm withdrew its proposal. In 2010, the company announced that it will bring an end to selling credit cards and dismiss 400 sales staff as well. The union called for assigning those salespeople other tasks and succeeded in protecting their jobs.

Union members are now demanding that the bank not fire its workers arbitrarily under the pretext of restructuring.