Supreme Court rules state violating customs employees rights to unionize

The Supreme Court on December 13 ruled that the Finance Ministry and its
Customs and Tariff Bureau violated customs employees' rights to join a trade
union, and ordered the state to compensate for the offense.

The victory for the customs employees came 27 years after the filing of
the lawsuit.

In 1974, the Tokyo, Yokohama, and two other branches of the All Japan
Customs Employees Union (Zenzeikan) and its 430 members filed a suit against
the Customs and Tariff Bureau and customs authorities for discrimination
against Zenzeikan union members in pay raise and promotion, manipulation of
their transfers to isolate them, and exclusion from various activities of
the customhouse with the intention to meddle in union activity and control
it.

The Supreme Court ruling clearly recognized that the authorities worked
to "encourage the union to divide," and that this move amounts to an illegal
labor practice of violating the right of workers to join a trade union. The
Supreme Court supported the preceding high court ruling that state should
pay 2.5 million yen to compensate for the offense.

The ruling also revealed that the discrimination was intentional and was
based on ideology. During the trial, a document of the authorities was
brought forth which instructed officials to rate Zenzeikan union members as
being in the bottom group for promotion, however good their performance
might be.

Akahata on December 14 regarded the Supreme Court judgment as "epochal"
in that it definitely denounced the illegal labor practice. However, it also
criticized the ruling for having some inadequate points and that the trial
itself took too many more years than usual. (end)