Flagship Sogo & Seibu dept. store in Tokyo closes due to labor strike

Labor union members at Japanese department store operator Sogo & Seibu Co. went on strike at its flagship Tokyo store Thursday in a rare work stoppage amid job security concerns stemming from the parent company's plan to sell the chain to a U.S. fund. In the first such action at a major department store union in 61 years, some 900 workers staged a walkout from the Seibu Ikebukuro store, as the parent Seven & i Holdings Co. plans to finalize the sale of the struggling department store chain to Fortress Investment Group LLC at an extraordinary board meeting on Thursday. The union said it is worr...