Editors and other staffers at Japan’s premier English-language newspaper walked out Wednesday, demanding a higher winter bonus.
The company between 2005 and 2009 had paid employees 1.5 months worth of bonus each winter and summer but started paying less than a month’s worth in 2009. Since that time Tozen’s Japan Times General Workers Union has tried to return bonuses back to its previous level.
This winter, management offered a measly 0.5 months, so the union struck.
The union has also sued the paper in the Tokyo Labor Commission for illegal union busting and bad faith negotiations.