Japanese Trade Union Confederation (RENGO)

Statement: Mitsubishi Motors and Mitsubishi Fuso scandals

Rengo has been reported today on a series of scandals of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) and Mitsubishi Fuso by the Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers Unions, All Mitsubishi Automobile Workers Federation, MMC Union and Mitsubishi Fuso Union. According to that, the Federation and the enterprise-based Unions have requested since the occurrence of a series of scandals within the framework of Central Labour-Management Councils and labour-management consultation for: earliest investigation into the truth; prompt market measures with the highest priority given to customers' safety; drastic reforms in corporate conscience and structure of quality control; and crystallisation of management responsibilities and strict treatment. The companies as a whole are in the process of making every possible effort in having customers' vehicles inspected and repaired, while having started to take measures to reform the corporate culture, including the reshuffling of executives, the appointment of a new management structure with a greater importance on the functioning of external auditing, and the establishing a Corporate Ethics Committee.

Concerning the recurrence of recall cover-ups following the case in the year 2000, the unions regretted that they had failed in assuming the "check and follow" function of trade unions and felt keenly the need to reform corporate and individual attitudes.

We regret that cover-ups and falsehoods were rampant in the absence of companies' being law-abiding and even caused causalities, the responsibility of which should be pursued. The companies should recognise the seriousness of their responsibility and make every effort faithfully and steadily to investigate into the truth and prevent a recurrence. While the unions concerned are fully conscious of that, Rengo has to request in a stronger way.

Supervising corporate social responsibilities is of course a role to be assumed by trade unions. All unions must draw a lesson from these scandals and restart the process of review the case as their own. Unions must rethink of the trade union function of monitoring corporate ethics. Efforts should be made between social partners in establishing a framework of respecting laws, including through setting contact points to receive information from union members and customers. Rengo will continue working to enhance trade union roles in cooperation with its affiliates and enterprise-based unions.