Sony vs. Pentax
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 4:42 pm
Sony is a very environmentally friendly company. It maintains excellent employee relations worldwide. When it absorbed money loosing Aiwa that was in big debt, it could just have it gone bancrupt, and save a lot of money. It did not. From the time Sony was established it has very high standards.
Hoya is very different. They now own Pentax. Their labor practices are such that I would not ever buy a Pentax camera, no need to support a company like Hoya. Hoya workers in Thailand work in subhuman conditions with little or no benefits for hardly any money at all.
This is how Hoya treats people who used legal means to unionize Hoya's Thailand swetshop. I believe that Pentax products should be boycoted until such practices end. There is worldwide boycot of other companies, like Nestle, for much lesser offenses.
http://somo.nl/news-en/labour-dispute-a ... equal-say/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
On May 28, Hoya Thailand asked for a court order to fire EEALU’s president, vice-president and secretary. This order has not been issued, but is still being processed.
On August 4, this series of events culminated in another dismissal order issued by the Hoya Thailand management, to fire 21 workers on the spot. All workers concerned are actively involved in EEALU, both as members of the EEALU Council Board as well as members of the Employment Committee. The workers did not immediately follow up on the dismissal order, fearing that leaving the factory’s premises could lead to them being accused for neglecting their duties. Subsequently, the Hoya Thailand management ordered security guards to forcefully drag and pull the dismissed union members outside the factory.
In addition, 22 other workers were sacked the same day, again on false grounds, according to the union.
A demonstration outside the factory announced by the union for the evening of August 4, to protest the unlawful dismissal of the union activists was obstructed by factory supervisors. Workers were told that those who joined in the demonstration before the end of the overtime period would be fired immediately.
Hoya is very different. They now own Pentax. Their labor practices are such that I would not ever buy a Pentax camera, no need to support a company like Hoya. Hoya workers in Thailand work in subhuman conditions with little or no benefits for hardly any money at all.
This is how Hoya treats people who used legal means to unionize Hoya's Thailand swetshop. I believe that Pentax products should be boycoted until such practices end. There is worldwide boycot of other companies, like Nestle, for much lesser offenses.
http://somo.nl/news-en/labour-dispute-a ... equal-say/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
On May 28, Hoya Thailand asked for a court order to fire EEALU’s president, vice-president and secretary. This order has not been issued, but is still being processed.
On August 4, this series of events culminated in another dismissal order issued by the Hoya Thailand management, to fire 21 workers on the spot. All workers concerned are actively involved in EEALU, both as members of the EEALU Council Board as well as members of the Employment Committee. The workers did not immediately follow up on the dismissal order, fearing that leaving the factory’s premises could lead to them being accused for neglecting their duties. Subsequently, the Hoya Thailand management ordered security guards to forcefully drag and pull the dismissed union members outside the factory.
In addition, 22 other workers were sacked the same day, again on false grounds, according to the union.
A demonstration outside the factory announced by the union for the evening of August 4, to protest the unlawful dismissal of the union activists was obstructed by factory supervisors. Workers were told that those who joined in the demonstration before the end of the overtime period would be fired immediately.