ILO will help settle labor dispute over JR discriminatory rehiring problem

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ILO will help settle labor dispute over JR discriminatory rehiring problem

The International Labor Organization (ILO) will give assistance for a negotiated political solution to the grievance of when Japan Railway Companies (JRs), established in 1987 through the privatization and break-up of Japan National Railways (JNR), did not hire 1,047 former JNR workers who were National Railway Workers' Union (Kokuro) or All National Railway Locomotive Engineers' Union (Zendoro) members.

The ILO Committee on Freedom of Association on November 15 requested that the Japanese government "give serious consideration to receiving such assistance from the ILO with a view to reaching a conclusion which is satisfactory to all parties concerned in this long-standing labor dispute."

In its seventh recommendation to the Japanese government on this case, the ILO has for the first time offered to directly involve itself in resolving the grievance.

A swift settlement of the case is called for on humanitarian grounds, as 20 years have passed since the JR discriminatory rehiring problem began and 41 workers are now deceased.

Kokuro President Sato Katsuo at a news conference held in the labor ministry on November 16 said, "Seeing this as our last opportunity, we will devote all our energies to settle the dispute. We demand that the government accept the ILO proposal and begin work on it immediately."
- Akahata, November 17, 2006