3,000 supporters call for 1,047 dismissed rail workers to be reinstated
A rally to call for a revocation of dismissals of 1,047 workers of the former Japan National Railways (JNR) was held in Tokyo's Hibiya Public Hall on April 13, attended by about 3,000 supporters.
When the JNR was privatized and broken up into seven companies 17 years ago, workers who were members of the National Railway Workers' Union (Kokuro) or the All National Railway Locomotive Engineers' Union (Zendoro) were intentionally excluded from the hiring lists of the new railway companies. Most workers who belonged to unions that collaborated with the authority got new positions.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) five times has issued a written advisory to the Japanese government for an equitable solution to this problem.
Economist Itoh Makoto, a rally organizer said, "The struggle to win a revocation of the 1,047 dismissals has importance in opening up a path toward the future of the Japanese labor movement."
The rally adopted an appeal calling for victory to be achieved this year to put an end to the 17-year-long struggle. (end)
