“We are very embarrassed to cause you such inconvenience, but we do not want to provide customers with poor quality service due to a lack of staff,” said Sogo & Seibu President Hiroto Taguchi, whose employees will be on the job for the first day on Thursday. message.strike of the last 60 years.

The Sogo & Seibu department store workers’ union has decided to go on strike on Thursday to protest the sale of the mall to an American investor.

Unions rarely stage strikes in Japan for fear of upsetting society, which could affect the company, spark public criticism and damage its reputation, the Japan Times writes.

Ever since the company announced last November that it was selling Sogo & Seibu Fortress Investment Group for about ¥200 billion ($1.37 billion), employees have feared losing their jobs.

About 900 workers will take part in the department store’s first strike in 60 years. The union currently only plans to strike on Thursday, prompting Sogo & Seibu to announce that the store will be closed that day.