Sony's sale of Chinese factory sparks worker strike

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According to Japanese media reports, a large-scale strike broke out at Sony's factory in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. Sony announced the sale of the factory, and the employees protested, forcing the factory, which has 4,000 employees, to suspend production. In China, in addition to demands for improved treatment, strikes against large Japanese companies that want to withdraw from the Chinese market have also occurred one after another. This incident once again reflects the difficulties of doing business in China.

The cause of the incident was the restructuring plan announced by Sony on November 7. Sony plans to sell its camera module factory in Guangzhou to a Chinese company for about 10 billion yen and completely withdraw from the operation of the factory.

Employees on strike at Sony's Guangzhou factory (17th)

The factory was put into operation in 2005. It currently provides 4,000 jobs, but with the slowdown of China's economy, Sony was forced to make a difficult decision. The two sides agreed that all employees would be taken over by the Chinese company that acquired the factory, and Sony was not particularly at fault.

However, this decision was met with resistance from employees.

"We are Sony employees!" "You can't just sell the factory to a Chinese company without any explanation!" "If you don't want us to protest, give us compensation!"

The employees who initiated the strike shouted these slogans and pressured the factory executives. The employees took the tough measure of blocking the factory entrances and exits and delaying the delivery of products since November 10. When the products were unable to be shipped due to the delivery date on the 15th, the police finally stepped in to solve the problem. Some people were injured during the procession, and 11 people who planned the demonstration were arrested.

The employees who initiated the strike shouted these slogans and forced the factory executives. Since November 10, the employees have taken tough measures to block the factory entrances and exits and delay the delivery of products. The angry employees even blocked the director's car for four hours. On the 15th, when the products could not be shipped due to the delivery deadline, the police finally stepped in to solve the problem. Some people were injured during the procession, and 11 people who planned the demonstration were arrested.

But that’s not the end of it.

Employees are neither machines nor slaves. Don't sell us out. We also have dignity and human rights (translated from Japanese) - From the 16th, such banners were posted on the factory gate. Although employees went to work as usual, they did not work, but spent their time in the factory cafeteria and sports field. As of the 22nd, this situation has continued. There are still many police on guard around.

There is a reason why employees took tough measures, and the purpose is to get "compensation." A 26-year-old female employee said, "I was surprised to hear that Sony was withdrawing, but the person in charge said that Sony is a well-known large company and that if you participate in the strike, you can get a lot of compensation. I didn't know what was going on, but I joined in." She also said firmly, "I will not return to the production line if I don't get paid."

Akihiro Maekawa of IBJ Consulting (Guangzhou), who is familiar with China's labor and evacuation issues, pointed out the reality of Japanese companies. In fact, even if the company is not at fault, "many Japanese companies will give priority to offering a lot of compensation to resolve the problem as soon as possible."

Employees shared information about past incidents on social networking sites (SNS). Maekawa said, "They fully understood which company paid out how much compensation when a problem occurred, and used that as a reference for negotiations."

In the case of Sony, the company was not at fault from a procedural point of view. Article 33 of the Labor Contract Law stipulates that "changes in the name, legal representative, principal person in charge or investor of an employer shall not affect the performance of the labor contract." In the case of Sony selling the factory, only the employer changed, so Sony does not need to compensate its employees.

This is also a problem that Japanese companies entering China have suffered from many times in the past. How Sony will deal with it and clean up the mess in the future will attract attention.

On the other hand, how China will deal with this issue has also attracted attention. China has proposed industrial upgrading from "quantity to quality", which requires creating a fair business environment for overseas companies with technological strength, but in fact there is still a long way to go.

China at least needs to realize that if it continues to try to "take advantage by making unreasonable demands", investment from overseas will further decrease.

What is the reason for this result? I hope you can provide some advice.

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