 |
|
Meanwhile, Ibuka was addressing the party at the Takanawa Prince Hotel.  Sony was founded after the war and has followed the course of Japan's postwar recovery. Each of us at Sony has worked together as one until this day, and we are deeply indebted to each of you here today for your generous support, through thick and thin, over these past 15 years. As a small token of our gratitude, we had intended to show you our newly completed plant so that you might see Sony's growth for youreselves. On this very day, however, Sony employees have called a strike. Outside groups are trying to use this very gathering to pressure us. The fact that our minor labor dispute has become the focus of larger forces seems to reflect in miniature the problems facing Japan today.
 Realizing the inconveniences this would impose on you, we considered calling off this gathering, but felt that we should show not only the union, but the rest of Japan that we are right. We therefore chose to invite you, hoping that you would pardon our impudence.
In his congratulatory message, Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda responded, I urge you not to become disheartened over the labor dispute. This is a phase that all growing companies must go through. I hope that you will confront and overcome this difficulty in a straightforward manner and continue your growth and progress.
|
 | | Ibuka giving an address at the 15th anniversary ceremony. |
|
Such was the consensus among the guests. Labor disputes are like measles---everyone gets them sometime during their early years. Sony simply got theirs later in life.
The three-day long strike and upuproar surrounding it ended as abruptly as it began. The lessons it provided both sides were lasting, however. Employees learned that without negotiation, disputes only worsened or even fell through, and that even physical force does not work. And management realized that things had changed since Sony first started with a mere 30 employees. After all, by that time Sony employed close to 4,000 workers.
The greatest shock for Ibuka and Morita, however, was the participation of Atsugi plant workers in the strike. The transistor girls had come by the busloads.
The transistor girls were upset over their transferes to the Atsugi plant, which had become the center of mass production. They had left their small hometowns in search of the thrills of Tokyo. If they were only to be sent to rustic Atsugi where there was nothing to do, there was no use in having left home in the first place.
To try to make life in Atsugi more enjoyable, the company had equipped the dorms with the latest facilities and offered lessons in a variety of hobbies. In addition, Sony High School courses were set up for employees who had only gone as far as junior high school.
At the inauguration of the courses, Morita encouraged the students, We don't ask you to apply what you learn here to your work. More importantly become good human beings.
Despite all of their paternal concern, however, the unrest had boiled over into a strike. After all, Sony was no longer a homogeneous group of engineers or upper managers. Management and labor had to readjust their relationship accordingly. In this way, the strike was an opportunity for Ibuka and Morita to deal face to face with their basic labor problems.
Fifteen Years earlier, when Ibuka and Morita first started business in the Shirokiya Department Store, their goal was to build a company large enough to afford a car and plant with an elevator. In 1961, Sony owned scores of cars and had 10 elevators located throughout its offices. Their modest hope had been realized 10 times over. This very expansion, however, led to increasing problems.
|
|
|
|
|
|
