Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Panasonic to respond to concerns from workers relating to the detrimental impacts of buyers' halting sourcing from Kawaguchi and to answer the following questions to understand how this is happening in line with responsible procurement principles.

• Having confirmed termination of sourcing from Kawaguchi, please confirm
  • The date this took effect or will take effect from.
  • Which stakeholders (if any) did you consult with and how prior to taking this decision?
• Are you aware of reports workers are still owed outstanding wages and unauthorised salary deductions?
• Does your company commit to remediate the unpaid wages and other labour violations for workers? If so, by when is it anticipated this will be complete?

Response from Panasonic

... we verified partial correction of the confirmed violations such as passport return to workers. We have been reported from Kawaguchi Manufacturing that they are proceeding with the repayment of the outstanding salaries to workers as planned and it is scheduled to pay them in full in December.

Also understanding the precarious financial situation of Kawaguchi Manufacturing and how this contributes to the situation of workers’ rights violations (such as non-payment of wages since May 2024), we paid for ordered products prior to the payment date, accepted their delayed delivery, and advanced the payment for procuring the raw materials. Our efforts to safeguard workers’ rights run in parallel with seeking for our business continuity. As a result, to avoid further delays in supply, we have engaged other suppliers who can provide the parts for the products currently being ordered by our customers, to whom certain molds were transferred. We purchase from Kawaguchi Manufacturing as of today, while monitoring the financial situation of the company and its mitigation of human rights violations...

... we will use our leverage to address workers’ labor rights abuses in a collaborative manner together with relevant stakeholders (such as government authorities, impacted workers and their representation, and other sourcing companies). Considering how to support other necessary measures to safeguard and remediate the impacted workers, we will work with the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) of which we are a member and other supportive groups to facilitate further engagement amongst relevant stakeholders and determination of appropriate next steps....