Airport ground service company agrees to pay settlement money to union

Thirty-one former employees of an airport ground service provider at Osaka Airport won an out-of-court settlement with the company on July 13 after a seven-year court struggle against their dismissals, apparently aimed at union busting.

Kansai Kogyo, a subsidiary of Osaka Airport Service (OAS) which is an affiliate of All Nippon Airways (ANA), agreed to pay about 100 million yen (about 900 hundred thousand dollars) in settlement money to the union branch. The union withdrew the lawsuit it filed with the Tokyo District Court. But the 31 former employees will not be reinstated to their former jobs.

The labor dispute began when Kansai Kogyo suddenly sacked more than 30 workers to close its office after OAS unilaterally ended its business contract with Kansai Kogyo in order to weaken the union in line with the wish of its parent company, ANA. Kansai Kogyo did not pay severance money to the workers. (end)