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Japanese Court Rules Toyota Worker Died From Overwork?

Agent009 submitted on 11/30/2007 Official Bell & Ross Timestamp: 11:12:24 AM

34 user comments | Category: Misc News | Source: | SOURCE: news.yahoo.com

A court in central Japan ordered the government Friday to pay compensation to a woman who argued that her husband died from overwork at Toyota Motor Corp.

, Japan's largest automaker, officials said.

Hiroko Uchino filed the suit after a local Labor Ministry office rejected applications for worker's compensation benefits she filed after the death of her husband, Kenichi, said Hiroko Tamaki, a lawyer for the plaintiff.

The Labor Ministry office said the case did not qualify as death from overwork, according to the lawyer.

In Friday's ruling, the Nagoya District Court ordered the government to reverse the local office's decision and pay compensation, court official Chie Hara said. Hara refused to give other details.

Death from overwork, known as "karoshi" in Japanese, has steadily increased since the government first recognized it in 1987.



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Japanese Court Rules Toyota Worker Died From Overwork?

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Agent009

"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough."

— Agent009 (View Profile)


User Comments

enthusiastx11

overworking people to hit volume targets seems to be having all kinds of effects...

— enthusiastx11 (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 11:24:23 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

jimmyjump

The article didnt mention the 57 packs of cigarettes per month, 238 cups of coffee per month, bad plant cafeteria food and the additional 112 hours/month at the bars with the other managers that could have contributed to his death.

Regardless if you have a word for this sort of thing there might be a problem? GO HOME!

— jimmyjump (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 12:21:06 PM | | Votes: 3   

Bill

The man probably overdid his smoking and drinking big time too. That could easily have led to his health becoming more fragile over time.

— Bill (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 1:00:05 PM | | Votes: 1   

A4ORCE

In reply to houston, the overwork comes from giving each worker multiple jobs. Part of streamlining Toyota's production process is from eliminating the downtime of one worker per machine and giving each worker the job of several. In a sense, the workers are machines as well because they are constantly on guard for the entire time they work.

— A4ORCE (View Profile)

Posted on 12/2/2007 2:34:29 PM | | Votes: 1   

EL34

Damn, what is Toyota running over there a slave camp?

— EL34 (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 11:36:42 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

autopro

Anything to keep kicking Mercedes ass every year.

— autopro (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 2:43:15 PM | | Votes: 2   

M35MT

009, please stop. I can search for bad BMW PR all day too.

— M35MT (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 12:55:21 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

0to60

You should know that this is a site where BMW fans congregate to bash other brands and hold their favorite on a pedestal. This would be a great site if the leaders were not so biased.

— 0to60 (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 1:11:22 PM | | Votes: -1   

Need4Speed

"You should know that this is a site where BMW fans congregate to bash other brands and hold their favorite on a pedestal. This would be a great site if the leaders were not so biased."

Let me fix that for you....

You should know that this is a site where IMPORT fans congregate to bash other brands and hold their favorite on a pedestal. This would be a great site if the leaders were not so biased.

There...that way there is no bias on you're part!

— Need4Speed (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 5:07:35 PM | | Votes: 2   

0to60

No, BMW fans.

— 0to60 (View Profile)

Posted on 12/1/2007 9:04:13 AM | | Votes: -2   

JUGNU

agree with M35MT.

btw I have been to Japan, and i agree people work like machines there. Thank God i am here in Dubai.

JUGNU

— JUGNU (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 1:03:25 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

w209w114

Dubai, Pfffft.... What a hypocrite. You people have a lot of growing up to do in that segment.

— w209w114 (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 1:21:12 PM | | Votes: 0   

0to60

Maybe he was joking... geez...

— 0to60 (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 1:34:33 PM | | Votes: 1   

M53R

Hes talking about himself... Not the whole country.

— M53R (View Profile)

Posted on 12/1/2007 6:03:37 AM | | Votes: 1   

kpaxx

I guess this explains the decline in quality

— kpaxx (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 1:37:12 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -1   

autopro

Even with a decline it head and sholders above everybody else,considering volume.

— autopro (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 2:44:58 PM | | Votes: 2   

gsh23

you guys think japan is bad, you should goto korea where they want to beat the japanese, which means even longer hours for less. and korea isnt exactly fun like it is in japan.

— gsh23 (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 1:49:22 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

EnnNorak

That is why the Hyundai Santa Fe is on my shopping list (wife wants a small SUV). It represents a lot of value for the money. The Koreans have not worked themselves to death yet but they too risk dying on the job in their fanatical dedication to overtaking the Japanese. The underdog always has to try harder and that is why we often cheer for the underdog.

— EnnNorak (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 2:24:21 PM | | Votes: 2   

BMW995

Maybe the poor soul expired because of the severe drivability problems persisting for both the 4 cyl and 6 cyl Camrys. Or maybe he was upset that the '07 Lexus ES350 for all practical purposes is undrivable and should be taken off the market as soon as possible.
All this from a very satisfied Lexus '07 IS owner.

— BMW995 (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 2:01:33 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

JUGNU

M35MT

Dubai is a free zone country. We don't pay all that taxes which u pay in europe or America...etc

It's a great place for the medium to rich people and to do business . And i am car business man.

btw life is tough everywhere in the world for the poor.
so don't just blame Dubai.

and what, workers not getting paid. Where did u get that from? Except few exceptions it's complelty wrong.

If they don't, how do u think all the development is happening. Workers are happy and they do quick and good work.

JUGNU

— JUGNU (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 2:13:03 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

M35MT

Because they're refugees. They'd rather work and eat than get blown up.

Dubai has over 250,000 foreign laborers, many of whom live in conditions described by Human Rights Watch as being "less than human". [41][42] NPR reports that workers "typically live eight to a room, sending home a portion of their salary to their families, whom they don't see for years at a time." The BBC has reported that "local newspapers often carry stories of construction workers allegedly not being paid for months on end. They are not allowed to move jobs and if they leave the country to go home they will almost certainly lose the money they say they are owed.[43] In September 2005, the Minister of Labour ordered one company to pay unpaid salaries within 24 hours after workers protested, and published the name of the offending company.[44] In December 2005, the Indian consulate in Dubai submitted a report to the Government of India detailing labor problems faced by Indian expatriates in the emirate. The report highlighted delayed payment of wages, substitution of employment contracts, premature termination of services and excessive working hours as being some of the challenges faced by Indian workers in the city. On 21 March 2006, workers at the construction site of Burj Dubai, upset over bus timings and working conditions, rioted damaging cars, offices, computers, and construction tools.[45][46][47] The city's apparent discriminatory legal system and unequal treatment of foreigners has been brought to light by its alleged attempts to cover up information on the rape of Alexandre Robert, a 15 year old French national, by three locals,[48] and by the recent mass imprisonment of migrant laborers, most of whom were from India, on account of their protests against poor wages and living conditions.[49]

I didnt "blame" Dubai.

BTW, I have nothing against Dubai, they are one of the few middle eastern countries that 'get it' economically.

— M35MT (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 2:36:54 PM | | Votes: 4   

M53R

M35MT

A good question is, is Dubai the only place where stuff like that happen?

— M53R (View Profile)

Posted on 12/1/2007 6:05:24 AM | | Votes: 1   

BigShow50

So you over work in a Toyota plant to meet demands and the stress of high quality, but at Mercedes under work your employees and get a crappy meals on wheels. Hey German fan boys after all your MB Ceo did admit publicly that they were building crappy cars due to poor levels of employment structure within R&D and assembly. And it actually had nothing to do with Chrysler being part of it...so keep enjoying your meals on wheels ladies...LMAO!!!

— BigShow50 (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 3:01:54 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

Bill

That was like what? A few years ago? Check the latest JD Power rankings. Mercedes did good in initial quality and that's a very good sign. Morons like you and Autopro are so full of hate.

— Bill (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 8:37:40 PM | | Votes: 0   

Need4Speed

Lord knows no one ever writes hate-filled posts about German and American cars on this site!

— Need4Speed (View Profile)

Posted on 11/30/2007 5:10:36 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 6   

BigShow50

Amazing to see the kind of reactions you get from the German Fanboys on this site towards the Japanese luxury. And yes I too expect the level of fine German Luxury auto, simply for the reason that they have been in the game for about 100 years...but what you German fanboys don't realize is that the Janpanese are playing a huge roll in this segment that does not get any worse, but just keeps getting better....it's only a matter of time when they are at least par, let alone surpass the German luxury auto on a global scale...so the German fanboys say never, but the rest say it's possbile.

— BigShow50 (View Profile)

Posted on 12/1/2007 9:28:15 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

Bill

The Germans had had over 100 years to develop their brand image, innovate, enhance their position in motorsport (and learn from it) etc. etc. etc.

Please don't bring up this lame comparison about how the recent Japanese luxury brands are doing so well. It doesn't compare to the history of the European luxury brands. The Japanese luxury brands have had it easy. Acura, Infiniti and Lexus were started by Honda, Nissan and Toyota respectively: all powerful mainstream brands with a lot of cash reserves.

BMW and Mercedes amongst other didn't have that luxury and had to make money on a mixture of different cars and strategies.

So please don't even talk about the infamous Autolies bullsh*t line: "The Germans have had over 100 years..."

— Bill (View Profile)

Posted on 12/1/2007 10:44:07 AM | | Votes: -2   

huu76

My friend works for Sanyo Machineworks in Kitchener and the Japanese workers generally go out drinking after work, then showing up (usually hungover) the next morning. My friend had to stop joining them because he couldn't take it, although usually the senior manager picked up the tab which is pretty cool.

80hrs of OT is a lot in a month and crazy for 6 months straight, but I'm not sure if it'd be enough to directly kill someone. Must've been a high stress job if it did.

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 12/1/2007 6:52:37 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

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