Toei Animation Draws Controversy Over Dramatic Labor Dispute

Toei Animation has recently been in the news thanks to a dramatic labor dispute that saw one of [...]

Toei Animation has recently been in the news thanks to a dramatic labor dispute that saw one of their directors, listed under the moniker of "A-San", being subjugated to "power harassment" while in the company, with a member of the union representing said director, Precariat Union, being "dead named" by the company. "B-San", the union representative, stated that they were denied the ability to negotiate due to Toei's claim that they were using a "false name".

B-San had this to say about the dispute as a member of the Precariat Union:

"In the first place, there are many married people who work under an alias, and the name I use for collective bargaining has nothing to do with the name on my family registry. Collective bargaining is an obligation established by the labor union, not a matter of a trust relationship and so forth. I think that they refused to even give me a seat at the discussion because they have no desire to resolve the dispute."

There are two major issues at play here within the Japanese workplace and legal system, specifically workers' rights in the anime industry, when it comes to A-San, and LGBTQ discrimination in Japan, when it comes to B-San. The industry of anime has been under the microscope a number of times due to claims of overwork and discrimination across the medium.

As mentioned in the incident, the Toei director, who was a member of the prolific company, feels isolated and alone which has crushed their original love of the company and the work that they had created during their time as a part of the anime producers:

"Toei Animation uses the Puss 'n Boots protagonist Pero as its logo. It's a story in which Pero ignores his friends in order to help out the mice who are in a lower position, and by doing that he gets chased out by his friends. In my situation, the boot is on the other foot. Everyone is wrapped up in company politics and things that have existed for a long time, so all they do is chase out people who are in the lower position. I think that this is linked to the company's discriminatory attitude towards sexual minorities, like how they called B-san's name a 'fake name.'"

Toei Animation is currently denying any wrongdoing in the matter and we'll be sure to give you any updates with regards to the status of the case.

Via ANN

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