Japan Press Weekly

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2012 April 11 - 17 [LABOR]

Retract JAL dismissals to ensure flight safety: JCP Kokuta

Japanese Communist Party Lower House member Kokuta Keiji on April 11 urged the government to instruct Japan Airlines to swiftly settle its labor disputes and secure flight safety at a House transport committee meeting.

JAL on April 9 announced that it will recruit about 200 new workers. Kokuta criticized the corporate plan by saying, “After conducting massive job cuts and kicking out workers, now it tries to cover the labor shortage with a new workforce.”

Kokuta pointed out that by selecting candidates for dismissal based on their age and records of sick leaves, the carrier has created an atmosphere in the workplace where its employees are scared to talk about their health conditions or even express their opinions. He revealed that in January, a captain flew a domestic flight from Hokkaido to Tokyo while suffering from a broken rib.

Stressing that the government bears responsibility for JAL’s rehabilitation scheme as it injected 350 billion yen into it, Kokuta urged the government to demand that their dismissals be retracted.

The JCP representative also brought up decisions made by the Tokyo District Court on March 29 and 30 that turned down former JAL pilots’ and cabin attendants’ call for the dismissals to be retracted.

The rulings, while stating that corporations under rehabilitation procedures still have to meet the 4 legal requirements before dismissing workers, found the carrier’s dismissals were reasonable.

Former JAL chair Inamori Kazuo during the court hearing stated that the dismissals could have been avoided. The court, however, stated that the remark was Inamori’s personal opinion. Kokuta criticized that the rulings are full of contradictions as a result of trying to defend corporate management.