Japan Press Weekly

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2012 May 16 - 22 [LABOR]

Drivers’ unions urge gov’t to tighten regulations on tour buses

Union representatives of bus, taxi, and truck drivers on May 16 visited the transport ministry to submit a petition calling for stricter regulations on the tour bus industry.

In the meeting, Fujiyoshi Shigeyasu, chair of a truck drivers’ union, the All Japan Construction, Trasnport and General Unions (Kenkoro), pointed out that behind the highway bus crash, which occurred in April and killed 7people, lies the absence of rules regulating bus drivers’ long working hours and excessive workloads.

Referring to the fact that workers are victimized by tour companies’ high-handed pressure tactics used on bus companies to lower operation costs, he emphasized the need to secure better working conditions for drivers to ensure passenger safety.

The petition urged the ministry to give stricter instruction to tour firms which impose low commission fees and extremely tight tour operations on bus agencies; change the exiting rule to one preventing one driver from driving a tour bus for more than 500 kilometers a day; and introduce a two-driver system for long-distance overnight tour buses.

A ministry official said that they will consider the petition.