Japan Press Weekly

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2013 September 25 - October 1 [LABOR]

Court approves taxi company’s unfair dismissal

The Shizuoka District Court Numazu Branch on September 25 turned down taxi drivers’ demand that their employer withdraw their dismissals issued under pretext of going out of business.

The plaintiffs plan to appeal to a higher court.

In the early morning of February 9, 2010, Ishikawa Taxi Fujinomiya, a group company of the Fuji Kyuko Group based in Shizuoka Prefecture, locked out its drivers from the office building. The company took away all of its 30 taxis from the parking lot during the middle of the night. The company had been operating as usual until the previous day.

The taxi company unilaterally announced that it will shut down due to bad business conditions, and dismissed all of its 40 employees after paying them compensation amounting to a one-month wage.

Three months later, 13 of the employees filed a lawsuit against the company and the holding company, claiming that their dismissals are illegal and invalid.

The court ruling states that while the company lacked consideration to the workers, it is socially acceptable for the company to lay off its drivers when it liquidates because of business conditions such as dwindling demand.

The plaintiffs’ group on the same day held a rally after the ruling. Lawyer Hagiwara Shigeyuki, who heads the counsel for the plaintiffs, said that the ruling is an unfair and pro-business one which approves of and justifies companies’unfair dismissals.

Suwabe Miyuki, representative of the plaintiffs’ group said, “If we do not raise our voices in protest, there will be other companies that close down in order to get rid of its employees, and workers will not be able to work with any sense of job security.”

Representatives of the Shizuoka Council of Trade Unions, the Fuji Federation of Labor Unions, and the All Japan Automobile Transport Workers’ Union (all are affiliated with Zenroren) expressed their solidarity with the plaintiffs.