Policy and Basic Concept

ITOCHU Corporation hopes to achieve an environment in which employees can leverage their individual talents and concentrate on their work without worry. To this end, we maintain a system of rich employee benefits and employee welfare facilities. Our original employee welfare measures include a morning-focused work style and health management. These have met with praise both inside and outside the company, and have contributed to increased employee motivation.

ITOCHU has established a labor union with which we hold constructive discussions to improve the working conditions as well as economic status of its constituents.

Structures and Systems

ITOCHU Corporation has had a labor union since its founding. The objective of the Labor Union is to improve labor conditions and other economic concerns of its members. The Labor Union carries out all required operations to fulfill this objective.
(Article 3, Rules of the ITOCHU Labor Union)

• Headquarters: General meeting of delegates and officers at headquarters
• Branch: Four branches (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Tohoku)

The company is prohibited from taking any of the following actions:

1. Providing disadvantageous treatment to a worker because the worker is a union member, or on similar grounds
   Example: Discharging or transferring a worker because the worker has gone on strike as a union member, or on similar grounds
2. Refusing to bargain collectively without justifiable cause
   Example: Refusing to come to the bargaining table or sending someone without authority as a representative to attend a collective bargaining session as a representative
3. Interfering with or providing financial assistance for the organization or operation of a labor union
   Example: Interfering with or interrupting the union's events or providing financial support for union operational expenses
4. Providing disadvantageous treatment, such as dismissal, to a worker in response to an allegation made by the worker to the Labor Relations Commission
   Example: Providing treatment, such as dismissal or wage reduction, to a worker in response to an allegation made by the worker to the Labor Relations Commission, or to a similar action by the worker

Aki Okuyama

President,
ITOCHU Labor Union

Comments from the ITOCHU Labor Union President

My name is Aki Okuyama. I will serve as the ITOCHU Labor Union President in FYE 2024.
I am fully committed to working towards achieving three missions I value most: To protect union members, to improve the company, and the mission I adopted last fiscal year, to create opportunities.

This fiscal year, I want to focus on the following five points.

1. Dialogue and checks with management, and promotion of opened culture
2. Realization of updated wage and personnel systems
3. Encourage autonomous career development and a free and creative working environment
4. Support to maintain Work-Life Balance of parents, and support for employees’ well-being
5. Support for secondees, expatriates, and union members working at branch offices

I will do my best this fiscal year to make this a company where all union members can work with enthusiasm.

The missions, action guidelines and vision of the labor union is as below.

• Missions (= the Meaning of the Existence of the Union and the Values at the Basis of Our Activities):
  “To protect union members,” “To improve the company,” and “To create opportunities”
• Action Guidelines (= the Key Phrases We Value in Our Daily Work):
  
  • Stay Ahead: Proactively adopt advanced concepts and work styles to ensure the organization constantly strengthens
  • Engage in Dialog: Conduct proposal-based and joint development-based activities while emphasizing dialogue with union members and management
  • Be Reliable: Build a relationship of trust with union members and use that as the basis to perform activities with a sense of unity
• Vision (= Ideal Future State):
  We are aiming to achieve a virtuous cycle of corporate management by improving the labor environment and the economic status of our members.
  ((1) An improvement in the labor environment thanks to the activities of the union accelerates the virtuous cycle of (2) active participation by union members, (3) improved company performance, (4) improved employee treatment, (5) improved morale and then back to (2) again)

Dialogue with the Labor Union

ITOCHU Corporation discusses a wide range of issues with the ITOCHU Labor Union in order to achieve our corporate mission “Sampo-yoshi.” In FYE 2023, we held management meetings: an account settlement meeting with the CFO, Collective bargaining session about the revision of the personnel system, a one-year review of the morning-focused flextime system and support for balancing childcare and work, and a management meeting with the President of the Energy and Chemicals Company. Recurrent, active discussion between labor and management makes both cognizant of the challenges facing the company and keeps them on the same page. This builds a healthy relationship that enables them to consider and implement measures for improvement.

Dialogue with the President

ITOCHU proactively establishes opportunities for the President and employees to engage in direct two-way dialogue. In FYE 2023, we proactively engaged in dialogue with employees by creating nearly 100 opportunities to connect with employees, including visits to local plants and offices. The President had the opportunity to speak with employees directly in his own words about our management policy and effort needed to achieve that vision. At the same time, employees had the opportunity to present opinions and questions to the President. These were important opportunities that helped enhance two-way communication.

Dialogue with the Division Company President

ITOCHU proactively establishes opportunities for the company president and officers to engage in dialogue with employees. Normally, all the employees under the control of an organization are gathered together once every half a year. The top management of that organization then speaks in their own words about the company-wide management policy, organization targets and strategies toward target achievement. It is possible for employees to give their opinions and ask questions at these dialogue meetings. These are valuable opportunities for all employees, including the top management, to think about what we should personally do to further grow the organizations to which we belong.