One hundred workers get 45 million yen back pay in overtime wages from NEC

NEC Corporation, one of Japan's leading communication equipment manufacturers, paid about 45-million yen (409,000 dollars) to its 100 workers at the head office at the end of November in back pay for their overtime work for the past two years.

This is a fruit of workers' efforts that pushed the labor standards inspection office to take steps to end unpaid overtime at NEC, Akahata reported on December 11.

Major electronic companies, such as Hitachi Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, and Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd., have introduced the so-called "discretionary work system," which the companies use as cover of overtime without pay.

Workers, their families, and Japanese Communist Party organizations in these companies have filed complaints about unpaid overtime with the labor standards inspection offices so that the offices have urged the companies to pay for overtime appropriately. The NEC's decision is part of the course of development in this question.

NEC started a false discretionary work system called the "V Work" system, for chief-class workers in 1998. Under the system, those workers have been paid for only one-hour overtime per day and forced to work more overtime without pay.

Under the company's restructuring, one out of five workers have been dismissed in these five years. Workers have had to work longer hours so that an increasing number of them have become ill, especially mentally.

In this October, NEC replaced the "V Work" system with the "New V Work" system for 8,000 workers. This is another discretionary work system that requires workers to report to office at 8:30 every morning, and their failure to do so will result in a pay cut of annual 500,000 yen.

One of the workers who complained to the labor office said that they have made a step forward toward the elimination of unpaid overtime and their struggle should be continued for ending the New V Work system. (end)