After three years in court, the Tokyo District Court has ruled that there was nothing illegal about Berlitz teachers engaging in strike action for a raise and bonus payment.
In 2009, Berlitz sued a number of its teachers saying their rotating strikes were illegal and damaging the company.
Berlitz had claimed that the teachers were out to damage the company, but it seems that Berlitz has done a good job of doing that all on their own in thinking its could bully the teachers with a lawsuit instead of sitting down and maybe trying to reach some sort of compromise.
The Japan Times article notes:
According to the plaintiffs, union activities including coordinated strikes and delay of written notice of strikes "put the company's existence itself in peril." The plaintiffs claimed that acts by the defendants affected 3,455 classes during the span and caused some of its students to leave the school.
The Begunto blog adds that Berlitz failed to provide any hard evidence as to how much damage the strikes had caused. Good on the teachers and Begunto for sticking to their guns. As for Berlitz, what on earth were they thinking? But that's what happens when you choose to act in bad faith.