Japan Press Weekly

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2024 April 10 - 16 [LABOR]

Union requests OECD to push Dow Chemical to negotiate with union

The National Union of General Workers (Zenkoku-Ippan), an affiliate of the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren), has requested support from the OECD National Contact Point to ensure that major U.S. chemical maker Dow Chemical and Dow Chemical Japan will negotiate with the unions.

Union representatives on April 9 held a press conference at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Higashinaka Mitsugu who chairs the Zenkoku-Ippan said that the dismissal of all union members by Dow Chemical Japan’s subsidiary Japan Acrylic Chemical Co., Ltd. violates the OECD’s “Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.”

The OECD Guidelines are recommendations jointly made by governments to multinational enterprises in order to address the negative impacts associated with their corporate activities.

At the press conference, Susumoto Kuniharu of the Zenkoku-Ippan Japan Acryl branch expressed concern that the unfair dismissals would negatively impact workers’ future plans, saying, “Some union members are even considering giving up their homes to survive.”

Fuse Keisuka, chief of the international division of Zenroren, noted that the international community has certain standards, such as the UN “Guiding Principle on Business and Human Rights,” requiring corporations to fulfill their social responsibility to protect human rights. He stressed the importance of resolving disputes between labor and management in line with international standards.

In 2019, Dow Chemical Japan closed the Nagoya plant of its 100% subsidiary Nippon Acrylic Chemical and laid off ten workers who were union members. The ten filed a lawsuit, demanding the revocation of their unfair dismissals. However, they lost the case in both the lower and appeal courts. The two courts ruled that “their dismissals were valid,” and the Supreme Court dismissed the plaintiffs’ case.

Past related article:
> Tokyo labor board issues demand to Dow Chemical subsidiary regarding plant closing plan [January 31, 2020]