Japanese bus drivers on strike, passengers can ride at no charge
Last Wednesday May 2nd in Okayama, a city in Japan, the bus drivers of the company Ryobi Group decided to make an different form of protest by letting theit passengers take the bus without paying and they are continuing to drive their routes normally.
The reason of this protest of driver working to Ryobi is that a new company of bus call Megurin and began operating on April 27. And Megurin’s bus are overlapping some routes of Ryobi and offering a cheaper fare. So the Ryobi drivers are asking management for improvements to their job security under the added competition.But Ryobi seem was less than enthusiastic to accommodate and a strike was declared.
Before this it have been this same kind of protest in Japan and in other parts of the world. The one that they made more public to the world was in Australia but it have been as well in Latin America and Europe.
Some of the opinions of readers express different positions.
* “This isn’t good at all. They’re working for free?!”
* “I think stopping the buses altogether would put more pressure on management.”
* “The idea is neat, but I think the money saved from wages and the value of free advertisement this action is creating means the company is still doing okay.”
* “This is a great idea, I like that they are trying different ways to get what they want.”
* “How cool is that?”
* “I heard they do this in Australia and it worked out really well!”
* “I think it is a good way to protect the company image in the long run, but I wonder how this affects both sides’ bargaining positions.”
This labor dispute has a lot of factors that affect in the outcome but it’s a good thing that they are using an unusual type of protest that is instead of affecting the customers or public are beneficial for them.
Jackson, M., Reruns, N., Suffragio, C., Wheway, B. and Hardy, A. (2018). Okayama buses strike by continuing to run and refusing to take anyone’s money. [online] Japan Today. Available at: https://japantoday.com/category/national/okayama-buses-strike-by-continuing-to-run-and-refusing-to-take-anyone’s-money [Accessed 5 May 2018]
