Japan Press Weekly

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2012 February 1 - 7 [LABOR]

Workers oppose downsizing in front of NEC head office

Workers in the electronics manufacturing sector on February 6 conducted a campaign demanding the cancellation of NEC Corporation’s 10,000-employee reduction plan in front of the NEC head office in Tokyo.

Since last year, corporate restructuring to eliminate as many as 100,000 employees has been taking place at major electronics companies such as Panasonic (40,000), Ricoh (10,000), and TDK (11,000).

The workers opposing the restructuring scheme showed how NEC disguised its surplus to look like a deficit. They called on workers to not be deceived by the statistical manipulation.

Late January, NEC announced its plan to eliminate 5,000 regular employees in addition to 5,000 job cuts affecting non-regular workers.

NEC is expected to increase its business profits by 12.2 billion yen from last year to 70 billion yen. However, the company claimed to be 100 billion yen in the red due to the costs associated with its restructuring scheme.

An NEC worker who is a member of the Electric Labor and Industry Correspondence (ELIC) asserted that NEC has 560 billion yen in internal reserves and said, “NEC has ample capital reserves and should retract its personnel cut plan.”

Maita Tokuji, a union activist, stated, “Let’s join hands to reject the restructuring plan!”