Teachers union wins hotel battle

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

2009/7/29

The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday ordered Prince Hotels Inc., its president and other executives to pay about 290 million yen in compensation to the Japan Teachers Union for unilaterally rescinding a contract to allow the group to use its facilities for a convention.

The hotel chain operator said it canceled the contract for the convention at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa in Tokyo's Minato Ward over fears that right-wing groups would gather near the venue with sound trucks blaring slogans and disturb other guests and nearby residents.

Prince Hotels issued a statement saying it could not accept the ruling and is considering filing an appeal.

Presiding Judge Kiyotaka Kono unanimously sided with the union and ordered the accused parties to publish an apology in newspapers for the about-face, which forced the group to cancel a plenary session for the 57th National Conference on Educational Research scheduled in February 2008.

Kono harshly criticized the hotelier's side for failing to adhere to an order by the district court which was also upheld by the Tokyo High Court to allow use of the hotel facilities.

"(The accused) did not follow the order, and deliberately obstructed use of facilities by Nikkyoso (Japan Teachers Union)," Kono said, saying its intransigence ignored the "foundation of the judicial system." He said its responsibility for the illegal acts was grave.

Kono also recognized that Yukihiro Watanabe, president of Prince Hotels, "intentionally neglected its obligations to let (the union) use the facilities" and thus bore ultimate responsibility under corporate law for paying damages.

Moreover, the court recognized that the union members' right to hold the gathering was guaranteed by law. It ordered the defendants to pay 50,000 yen in damages to each of the 1,889 union members who were to attend the session.

Yuzuru Nakamura, chairman of the union's central executive committee, said Tuesday he welcomed the ruling as "clearly recognizing the freedom of assembly and the importance of educational research activities by teachers."

According to the ruling, the union signed a contract with Prince Hotels in October 2007 to reserve banquet room facilities and 190 guest rooms.

However, the following month, the hotel insisted on scrapping the contract and denied the union access to its facilities, citing a perceived threat from "right-wing activists" and their ubiquitous sound trucks.

The union sought an injunction from the Tokyo District Court so that it could use the hotel facilities. The Tokyo High Court dismissed the hotelier's appeal just two days before the convention was scheduled.

Prince Hotels ignored the decision, and as a result, the plenary session of the conference was canceled for the first time since the gathering was first held in 1951.(IHT/Asahi: July 29,2009)