Former national railway workers need to be reinstated after 17 years' discrimination

In April 1987, the Japanese National Railways was privatized and divided into private companies. The private Japan Railways (JR) companies refused to keep on 1,047 workers who were members of the National Railway Workers' Union (Kokuro) or the All National Railway Locomotive Engineers' Union (Zendoro).

The 1,047 workers took legal action against the unfair dismissals, calling for their reinstatement.

The focal point was whether JR has a responsibility to employ the former national railway workers. JR companies refused to acknowledge that they have such employer responsibilities.

In October 2002, the Tokyo High Court for the first time recognized that JR has the immediate responsibility to employ railway workers as the contractor of employment.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) has advised the Japanese government 5 times, calling for the discrimination by JR to be resolved impartially. In its June 2003 recommendation, ILO denounced the discrimination for violating the freedom of association and the ILO agreements.

A rally took place on July 11 in Tokyo, calling for the reinstatement of the railway workers, with 800 people attending. (end)