Local labor commission orders Kawasaki Heavy Industries to end discrimination

The Hyogo prefectural local labor relations commission on December 9 recognized that discrimination in wages and promotion against 16 workers in Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. is an unfair labor practice, and ordered the company to redress its wrongdoing.

Kawasaki in the 1960s began to discriminate against workers who oppose capital-labor cooperation, the aim being to check the growth of union activities. The company has put such workers in a disadvantageous position in terms of wage increases and promotion. In 1994, 16 workers at Kawasaki's Kobe and Hyogo plants filed a complaint with the local labor relations commission, demanding a correction of the unfair treatment against them.

The labor relations commission acknowledged that Kawasaki opposed legitimate union activities and arbitrarily held down wages for workers who it regarded as having poor skills and ordered Kawasaki to redress the evaluation of performance and pay the plaintiffs wages pegged on the same scale as other employees. The commission also prohibited Kawasaki from discriminating against workers in wages and promotion due to their involvement in legitimate union activities.

Sakamoto Akira, representative of three organizations which have supported the 16 workers, said, "We want this decision to be the first step for developing corporate social responsibility in the future." (end)