Published 18 Aug, 2011
A U.S. delegation of labor leaders, led by Transport Workers Union International Administrative Vice President John Conley, met with Japanese government officials at their embassy in Washington, D.C. on August 16th.
The delegation, comprised of labor leaders representing the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), International Association of Machinists (IAMAW) and the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) – Communications Workers of America (CWA), met with Japanese Embassy officials, Mr. Shigenori Hiraoka, Counselor (Transportation) and Ms. Kayo Rokumoto, First Secretary (Embassy of Japan).
The meeting amongst them created a platform for the U.S. labor leaders to discuss the seemingly arbitrary dismissals of Japan Airlines cabin crew members, affiliates of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), from the Japan Airlines Cabin Crew Union (CCU). A focus was centered on the fact that older mature workers, as well as union leaders, were dismissed without proper negotiation, while failing to recognize the global affect onJapan Airlines.
“Mr. Hiraoka and Ms. Rokumoto both vowed to pass on the concerns of the delegations regarding the displeasure among global union members concerning the dismissals that have been characterized as arbitrary,” said Conley.
TWU’s Conley led the discussion group on behalf of the U.S. delegation, culminating in the presentation of the International Resolution supporting the plight of our Cabin Crew colleagues adopted during the recent ITF JointAlliances meeting in Madrid.
The ITF is comprised of 779 unions representing over 4,668,950 transport workers in 155 countries. It is one of several Global Union Federations allied with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).