|
|
|
|
Better never than
late
By Suvendrini
Kakuchi
TOKYO - While Japan still searches
for answers as to how a packed commuter train on
Monday jumped the tracks on the outskirts of the
western city of Osaka and smashed into an
apartment complex, labor activists said West Japan
Railway Co, or JR West - the operator of the fatal
train line - had to bear a large part of the blame
for causing the country's worst rail accident in
40 years.
"We are almost certain that the
fatal accident occurred because the young driver
of the train was under tremendous pressure to keep
to the schedule. Fear of being punished by the
management affected his judgment and led to
reckless driving," said Osamu Yomono, vice
president of the international affairs committee
of the Japan Confederation of Railway Workers
Union.
Rescue workers on Thursday
recovered the body of the driver in the mangled
remains of the train. The death toll so far has
hit 106, with more than 450 people injured, most
of them seriously. From his grave of twisted
metal, 23-year-old driver Ryujiro Takami has faced
furious allegations that he was responsible for
the disaster. Media reports say the young man had
been on the job for 11 months and on Monday had
overshot a station stop, putting the train 90
seconds behind schedule.
Records
showed the driver had been reprimanded once
for overshooting a platform by 100 meters.
Apparently aware that he would be in trouble again with
the management, the driver persuaded the conductor
at the back of the train to report he had overrun
the platform by eight meters. On Wednesday,
officials said that the length was actually 40m, the
equivalent of two cars.
JR West's
reprimand is in the form of the infamous
"day shift", where punishment for train
drivers include writing reams of self-critical
reports, being demoted to weed the company's gardens
or apologizing for weeks to managers. Treatment is
so mentally demoralizing that seven drivers
have committed suicide after the treatment.
Depression is also common. Two years ago, a group of
human-rights lawyers in Hyogo prefecture, where JR West
is based, issued a statement urging the company to
improve its labor practices.
Yomono of the
railway union, who has been fighting for decades
to stop this practice, said this situation must be
taken into consideration when ruling who is to
blame. "The accident should be turned into an
attempt to understand safety. It can only be
achieved if the management treats its workers
better. A young man lost his life because JR West
puts priority on profits over the human rights of
workers and safety," he said. "The fear of being
reprimanded again prevented the young driver from
making a rational decision and many innocent lives
have been lost as a result."
Early
this month, JR West issued a statement to its
employees stating that train delays would betray
customers' confidence. Lawyer Masako Shimano, a
longtime protector of workers' rights, pointed out that the
train crash is a terrible eye-opener to a growing system
in Japan where management often disregards the
needs of workers, which in turn leads to
accidents. "Globalization and rapid privatization,
coupled with a system in Japan where human rights
have long taken low priority, have led to a
frightening situation for workers and the lowering
of safety standards," she said.
JR West was formed as a private company
when the government-run 115-year-old Japan National
Railway was privatized in 1987 because of heavy
losses. Six private firms run Japan's vast-labyrinth
railway system that is used by more than 85
million commuters annually. More than 200,000
people are employed in JR East and West, the two
major railways that run in Kanto and Kansai areas
respectively.
According to Yomono, JR West
takes a particularly harsh attitude toward its
workers and he accuses the company's attitude of
trying to be the top dog in a highly competitive
public transport market as being responsible for
it. Though the company did very well in the last
financial year, it faces stiff competition from
other private railway operators in its territory
in Amagaseki.
To compete, JR West promised commuters
that it would provide more train coaches and
adhere strictly to timetables, as well as provide
safe travel. Obsessed with punctuality, JR West's
management, according to Yomono, terrorizes workers
with the threat of the "day shift". Kenji
Ito, an official at the Japan Confederation of
Railway Workers Unions, said JR West was
particularly harsh on employees responsible for
train delays, giving them reprimands, cutting
salaries and subjecting them to a "re-education"
process that in some cases is tantamount to being
"pilloried".
Human-rights activists
produced tape recordings of one train driver,
Masaki Hattori, 44, that revealed he was sobbing
while repeatedly saying "I am wrong and I am a
fool" during three days of harsh questioning by JR
West managers in his "re-education" program, for
falling behind his schedule. The proud driver,
with 20 years' experience and no accidents in his
record, felt humiliated and later committed
suicide.
(Inter Press
Service) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
All material on this
website is copyright and may not be republished in any form without written
permission.
0„8 Copyright 1999 - 2005 Asia Times
Online Ltd.
|
|
Head
Office: Rm 202, Hau Fook Mansion, No. 8 Hau Fook St., Kowloon, Hong
Kong
Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
|
|
|
|
