Trade unions and researchers discuss ways to fight corporate restructuring

Trade union representatives and labor movement researchers discussed ways
to cope with massive corporate restructuring and unemployment in a symposium
held in Tokyo on December 15.

The symposium was organized by the Japan Research Institute of Labor
Movement.

A representative of the Nissan Motors Branch of the All-Japan Metal and
Information Machinery Workers' Union (JMIU) stated that workers at the
Nissan Oppama plant in Kanagawa Prefecture are forced to work more than 460
hours overtime a year. These are workers who were transferred from the
Nissan Murayama plant in Tokyo after it was closed as part of the
restructuring called the "Nissan Revival Plan."

He said that although Nissan is thought to have been successful in
recovering a sound business performance in a short period, what it has
actually done is to sacrifice workers and subcontractors through
restructuring and sale of assets.

A representative of the Struggle Committee against Recession in Ota Ward,
Tokyo said that two credit unions in the ward have gone bankrupt under the
Financial Services Agency's policy on the disposal of non-performing loans,
which made small- and medium-sized businesses angry and forced them to rise
to defend themselves.

Participants criticized the government for providing subsidies under the
name of "measures to deal with unemployment" to the companies which carry
out restructuring programs. (end)