Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2015 February 4 - 10 [LABOR]

Appeal against JAL’s mass layoffs of flight attendants unfairly rejected

The Supreme Court on February 4 rejected an appeal from 71 former JAL flight attendants against a lower court ruling that legitimized JAL’s massive layoffs.

Plaintiffs soon issued a statement in protest against the top court decision of not holding any appeal hearing. The statement states that they will not give in to the unfair decision and will seek an overall settlement of the case by increasing their own efforts. It calls for fair hearings on the appeal filed by 64 ex-pilots which the Supreme Court has not made a decision on whether to hold or not.

JAL, while under corporate restructuring proceedings, dismissed a total of 165 pilots and flight attendants in December 2010. The majority sought reinstatement in court, but the Tokyo High Court in June last year gave a judgment in favor of the airline company.

After eliminating numerous jobs, JAL found many problems in regard to safety due to a staff shortage. Although dismissing a number of crewmembers, it hired new employees. The International Labor Organization (ILO) recommended twice that Japan’s government and its flagship carrier consult with JAL unions regarding the return of terminated workers before recruiting new staff.

Regarding JAL’s dismissals, several other trials took place, including the Tokyo District Court case in August last year which recognized a JAL trustee’s intimidation against JAL unions as an unfair labor practice and the Osaka District Court case in January this year which nullified the dismissal of a JAL flight attendant.

Past related articles:
> Court annuls JAL’s dismissal of flight attendant [January 29, 2015]
> High court approves unfair dismissal of JAL pilots [June 6, 2014]
> High court rejects ex-JAL CAs’ appeal against their unfair dismissals [June 4, 2014]
> District court: JAL hampers union activity for cancellation of mass dismissal [August 28&29, 2014]
> ILO requests gov’t to encourage JAL to negotiate with unions [June 29, 2012]
> JAL suffers from staff shortage and on-board mishaps [June 26, 2012]