Jackson Urges Widening Mitsubishi Boycott After Talks Fail

Decrying Japan’s “cult of exclusivity,” civil rights activist Jesse Jackson declared Wednesday that he aims to expand a U.S. boycott against Mitsubishi Motors Corp. after he failed to win commitments from the firm to settle charges of sexual harassment and racial discrimination involving its American subsidiaries.

Jackson, visibly frustrated after a day of meetings with Japanese auto firms, also announced that Honda Motor Co. will be the next boycott target. He accused Honda of “gross insensitivity” for awarding African Americans two dealerships out of more than 1,000 in the U.S. and failing to agree to an affirmative action plan.

“We want to engage in negotiations,” Jackson said during a sidewalk news conference outside the Mitsubishi Motors headquarters in Tokyo. “But if we cannot engage in negotiations, then we must escalate our boycott and withdraw our economic support until there’s a commitment to fairness.”

Jackson’s National Rainbow Coalition, the National Organization for Women and other groups began boycotting Mitsubishi products after the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the biggest sexual harassment lawsuit in its history against Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America Inc. in April. During his five-day visit here, Jackson broadened his focus to minority business opportunities in meetings with the heads of major auto makers, the New Otani Corp. and Sony Corp.

He also called on them to open their management to more Americans and offer more business opportunities, such as auto dealerships and supplier contracts, to women and minorities. The 90-minute meeting with top Mitsubishi officials--all men--was “evidence that they have not caught up with the times,” he said.

Jackson’s efforts appear to have fallen short, however. Mitsubishi officials did not agree to his demands to settle the harassment suit, present a concrete affirmative action plan with goals, targets and timetables, or involve the Rainbow Coalition or NOW in any resolution process, Jackson said.

Taizo Yokoyama, Mitsubishi managing director, said the firm will aim to implement a new equal opportunity program announced Tuesday in Chicago. Former Labor Secretary Lynn Martin, a Mitsubishi consultant, announced that the firm had hired an African American woman, Gloria-Jeanne Davis, to head a new Department of Opportunity Programs to expand opportunities for women and minorities. The firm also created a companywide training program aimed at preventing sexual harassment.

Mitsubishi officials expressed some befuddlement over why the attack on them had broadened from sexual harassment to lack of minority-owned dealerships--especially since the firm actually boasts the second-best record on women- and minority-owned dealerships in the United States, after Ford Motor Co.

“I’m not sure why that happened, but it doesn’t mean we should not listen to constructive criticism,” said Kim Custer, spokesman for Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America, the Cypress-based sister company of the manufacturing firm targeted in the harassment suit. “We’re willing to listen to anyone who can tell us how to get a better record.”

Although Jackson attacked Mitsubishi for granting only 11 of 505 dealerships to Latinos and African Americans, he failed to mention those granted to Asian Americans, Native Americans and women. All told, Mitsubishi dealers include 23 women, or 4.5%. There are 22 minority dealers, or 4.3%: eight Latinos, eight Asian Americans, three African Americans and three Native Americans.

Minority-owned dealerships at Ford stand at just under 7%, General Motors at 3% and Chrysler at about 2.5%, according to data from individual auto firms.

Mitsubishi also launched a program two years ago to develop more minority dealers by providing training and helping underwrite the steep costs of starting a dealership, which can run from $200,000 to $2 million.

Jackson denied that he had inappropriately singled out Mitsubishi, saying its actions had invited close scrutiny of dealerships and other issues.

Jackson said he will work throughout the summer and fall to escalate the Mitsubishi boycott in major cities.

Custer said the firm, despite its training program, still has an inadequate pool of minority candidates with the financial resources and experience required for a dealership. “We don’t want to set people up for failure,” he said. “This is no cakewalk.”

He added that he does not know what effect the boycott has had so far on sales. They have risen this year by 30% for the Galant and Eclipse vehicles manufactured at the plant targeted in the harassment suit. At the same time, sales overall have dipped by 16%--four times more than the industry average--but Custer said the decline could be related to the fact that the firm is not selling two of its lines, the pickup and the Diamante, this year.

Jackson also chastised Japanese firms for a “consistent” pattern of discrimination, saying more than 100 claims have been filed against them with the EEOC. But some civil rights activists here took issue with the broad attack.

The 100 claims represent just 1.4% of the 7,000 or so Japanese corporations in the United States, a percentage that is not terribly high, said Hiroshi Kashiwagi, chairman of the Japan Pacific Resource Network, a civil rights group based in Tokyo and Oakland.

“I think it’s fair to say that Japanese companies have made some effort and improvement,” Kashiwagi said. “But they don’t understand what to do afterwards . . . how to harmonize the workplace.”

Jackson leaves Tokyo today to go to Indonesia, where he is scheduled to visit manufacturing firms and examine the low-cost labor structure, which he says is pulling jobs away from Americans.