TOKYO — Time is money, the saying goes. A Japanese train driver is going to court over one minute of each.
SoraNews24 reports the driver, who works for the Okayama branch of West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) is seeking 56 yen (49 U.S. cents) in wages he was docked for a 1-minute delay in departing a station with a deadhead move to a rail yard — as well as 13 yen in lost overtime, and 2.2 million yen ($19,319) for mental anguish.
The driver says he was waiting for a train to arrive at the Okayama station so he could take it over for the deadhead move when he realized he was waiting at the wrong platform. By the time he reached the correct platform, the resulting 2-minute delay in the transfer between drivers led to a 1-minute delay in departing, as well as a 1-minute delay in parking the train at the yard. JR West initially docked him 2 minutes’ pay, saying no work was performed during that time, but reduced it to 1 minute after the driver took the matter to government labor officials.
The driver contends no pay should be docked because the matter occurred during his work shift, but the railroad says it applied the “no work, no pay principle” in reducing his pay, as it would for late arrival to work or absenteeism.
Depends on labor law there, which I doubt favors workers. But it is nasty, IMHO. And not well handled from my view. Of course, in the rail world I live in east of NYC, on time is mostly fantasy – at least with the Japanese definition, the concept that if a train should arrive at such and such a time, that doesn’t mean 5:59 later than that time and at a point miles short of the actual destination. And I’m pretty sure that in Japan schedules are not ‘adjusted’ to add lots of buffer time. I have a train (with a transfer) I’ve had to take many times that needs at LEAST 90 minutes to go 40 miles in evening rush hour. And a faster train that is lucky to get those 40 miles with few stops in an hour.
At least Japan takes their train schedules far more seriously.
Punctuality is taken seriously in Japan. I hope that will extend to the operation of Texas Central trains based on the design of JNR.
Don’t know the actual Japanese law, but it sounds similar to US laws where you have to have some actual money damages (say, 56 yen) before you can add on mental anguish, emotional distress, etc.
Reminds me of a conversation I had years ago with a NARP activist in Michigan. He criticized Amtrak for padding a schedule with “make-up” time in the last lap.
I said, “Railroads don’t run like a Swiss watch.”
To which he replied, “They do in Switzerland.”
They do run a tight schedule there.