By TAKEHIKO SAWAJI/ Senior Staff Writer
July 3, 2023 at 17:59 JST
The Seibu department store in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Seeking to protect thousands of jobs, a labor union of Sogo & Seibu department store is preparing to go on strike over plans to sell the company to a U.S. investment manager.
The Sogo & Seibu Labor Union, which counts almost all 4,000 employees of the department store as members, is demanding that owner Seven & i Holdings Co. protect their jobs and continue the department store business.
The union says it has not received a clear reply from management of the leading retail group.
Seven & i Holdings announced last autumn that it will sell the department store to Fortress Investment Group of the United States.
The U.S. investment manager has allied with major electronics and appliance retailer Yodobashi Holdings Co. in the plan to buy Sogo & Seibu.
Yodobashi plans to open stores in the Sogo & Seibu locations.
But the plan to buy the department store operator has been delayed because of disagreements with owners of land where the stores are located.
The union announced on July 3 that it will hold a vote between July 9 and July 22 on whether to go ahead with the strike.
If more than half of the members support strike action, the union will gain the right to walk off the job. The labor union’s executive committee will then decide when and how to stage the strike, or whether to refrain from striking.
The union is concerned that the opening of Yodobashi’s stores at Sogo & Seibu locations will push out the department store’s workers.
Yodobashi plans to open a large store inside Sogo & Seibu’s flagship store in the Ikebukuro district in Tokyo’s Toshima Ward.
The union said if the department store’s floor space is reduced due to the opening of Yodobashi shops, Sogo & Seibu’s relationship with its suppliers could suffer, and the company’s business could dwindle as a result.
“We are not opposed to the sale of our company or the opening of Yodobashi stores,” Yasuhiro Teraoka, chair of the executive committee of the union, said. “But details of the opening of (Yodobashi) stores haven’t been revealed, and employees are becoming more worried about whether their jobs would be protected.”
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