A 23-year-old labor dispute affecting former workers of the now-defunct Japanese National Railways (JNR) is likely to be resolved, as the National Railway Workers' Union (Kokuro) and other bodies concerned have accepted a ¥20 billion settlement plan.
Under the plan, worked out by the coalition government and Komeito, 910 households will each receive ¥22 million as "reconciliation money," for a total of some ¥14.2 billion. Kokuro and other bodies concerned will receive some ¥5.8 billion, to be used to help the former workers find employment. However, there is no guarantee that every former worker will be employed by the JR firms that took over JNR's operations.
JNR was privatized and divided in April 1987, but the newly established JR firms refused to employ some 7,630 former JNR workers, mostly Kokuro members. Those former JNR workers were transferred to the now-defunct JNR Settlement Corp. but it fired 1,047 of them.