JCP in Diet demands government act to stop major companies' bullying of
suppliers

Shiokawa Tetsuya of the Japanese Communist Party on November 21 requested
that the government push major companies into ending bullying of their
subcontractors as part of their restructuring.

Shiokawa was questioning the government in a House of Representatives
Committee on Economy and Industry meeting based on what the JCP found in an
investigation of major companies in Yamagata and Nagano prefectures.

Shiokawa said that major companies are pushing ahead with plant transfers
and overseas business expansions by cutting the unit price of parts they buy
from suppliers and paying them with long-dated bills.

The Small and Medium Enterprise Agency director general in reply said
that the agency will issue a directive for the law for the promotion of
subcontractors to be observed. (end)