Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2013 September 25 - October 1 [LABOR]

Union workers demand swift settlement of labor disputes

Members of the Tokyo Local Council of Trade Unions (Tokyo Chihyo) on September 25 held rallies in succession in front of large corporations’ headquarters buildings, seeking the early settlement of labor disputes, including unfair dismissal cases.

Despite the rain, some 270 workers gathered in front of the Japan Airlines (JAL) head office building, including former pilots and cabin attendants who were fired on the last day of the year 2010. Uchida Taeko, the head of the plaintiffs’ group consisting of ex-flight attendants, said, “In the examination of witnesses at the court, it was revealed that the airline company had aimed to get rid of ‘complaining’ employees. JAL is now suffering a staff shortage as it discharged many veteran employees who were working hard to promote flight safety. The company should stop giving top priority to increasing profits and return us to our workplace.”

About 300 workers took part in a rally in front of the head office of IBM Japan to demand a halt to and the retraction of the so-called “lockout dismissals”.

IBM Japan, whose top executive claimed that his company is a “taster for poison” in corporate downsizing, has worked out new means for slashing workers one after another and used its employees as the subject of those “methods”. Of 30 workers given pink slips, 26 are union members affiliated with the All-Japan Metal and Information Machinery Workers’ Union (JMIU). They were all given a dismissal notice just before closing time, and almost immediately kicked out on the street.

Suzuki Sumire, one of the plaintiffs fighting against the tech giant, said, “I’m determined to win the suit and return to the workplace.”

The JMIU took action in central Tokyo on the same day, opposing government-planned adverse revisions of labor legislation and a consumption tax hike.

In the action, around 200 union members rallied in front of the Labor Ministry building. Aoyama Kazumi, who filed a lawsuit against Daikin Industries to seek the withdrawal of his dismissal, said, “I had worked for the company for nearly 20 years. The firm fired more than 200 employees, including skilled workers like me. On top of that, replacement workers were also dismissed after only two and a half years. I cannot accept such an unfair dismissal by the employer which claims to be a leading company in the global air-conditioning industry.”