Healthy Labor Management Relations

At Panasonic, important management issues are discussed in advance with the labor union, and Management-Labor Committees are established as forums for people to express their opinions on these issues. Important decisions are explained to labor union leaders, and Labor-Management Councils are held to provide an opportunity for people to express their approval or dissent.

Both the Management-Labor Committees and Labor-Management Councils are held regularly at the corporate level, business domain level, and business unit level. The topmanagement level Management-Labor Committee is held once a month and is attended by the President, Executive Officer in charge of personnel, and the head of the labor union's Central Executive Committee. The top-management level Labor-Management Council is held twice a year and is attended by all Executive Officers at the level of Managing Director or above and the members of the labor union's Central Executive Committee.

Following an EU directive^* adopted in 1994, each Panasonic company in Europe quickly set up a voluntary labor-management agreement and established the Panasonic European Congress. In fiscal 2009, 29 employee representatives from 13 countries gathered together for a three-day course in the Czech Republic, where they exchanged information regarding management strategy, business challenges, employment and labor conditions, and conducted lively discussions with management executives.

• * A directive that obliges all companies employing 1,000 or more employees in two or more countries of the European Union to establish a pan-European labor-management consultation committee.