News

We are delighted to announce a significant breakthrough with the signature of a global framework agreement by UNI Global Union and UA Zensen with Japanese retail giant AEON.

AEON is Japan’s largest retailer and aims to be Asia’s number one regional retailer. AEON employs 420,000 staff and is present in 13 countries.

UA Zensen is Japan’s largest union with 1.51 million members and a strong profile in the retail sector. It was a key driver for the agreement.

UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings said, “This is an important strategic agreement for AEON and UNI Global Union. AEON is an ambitious company and we will work with it to spread good labour practices wherever it grows its business in Asia and beyond. With the backing of UNI and its affiliates, AEON can carry the torch for decent work.”

“UNI will share the AEON agreement with more than 2,000 of its affiliates in Cape Town at the UNI World Congress in December.”

The President of UA Zensen, Naoto Ohmi said, “This Global Framework Agreement is to put what the four signatories have been implementing so far in the form of agreement.  By signing and publicizing it, our strong commitments to the implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility and to the protection of human and workers’ rights are declared.  With this, we hope that the Japanese partnership industrial relations will be promoted in Asia and we will continue our efforts to make it happen.”

The agreement confirms the commitment of AEON to its staff and to the core labour standards of the ILO. There is a commitment to continuous social dialogue to improve workers’ welfare and to bring a social dialogue to the anticipated expansion of AEON in Asia and globally.

AEON Basic Principles are to pursue peace, respect people and contribute to the local community based on the idea of customer first.