Japan Press Weekly

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2012 November 7 - 13 [LABOR]

Orchestra musicians seek cancellation of unfair dismissals

Two contrabass players of the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra on November 7 filed a complaint with the Kanagawa Prefectural Labor Relations Commission calling for the withdrawal of their dismissals.

The two musicians, Sugimoto Tadashi and Fusegi Kenji, are staff members of the Kanagawa Phil branch of the Kanagawa prefectural general union for public sector workers. The two claim that the orchestra unfairly discharged them with the intent to reduce the union’s strength.

The orchestra gave dismissal notices to the 2 workers claiming that their skills are low. That was a mere pretext and the dismissal is unjust, they argue, since their musical skills have never been called into question by conductors.

Although there are two unions in the orchestra, the band barred the union in which the two are members from the negotiating table and discussed working conditions only with the other one.

After filing the complaint, Sugimoto said, “The orchestra has been chasing profits since it fired us. I do not want the Kanagawa Phil to be degraded. I hope to break this undesirable trend by achieving the cancellation of our dismissals.”

Related past articles:

> Kanagawa orchestra members seek withdrawal of their dismissals [August 17, 2012]
> Kanagawa Orchestra members demand withdrawal of dismissals [July 5, 2012]