In Japan, A Bus Strike With Drivers Operating And Giving Passengers Free Ride

In an unusual form of protest, bus drivers in Japan’s Okayama city working with Ryobi Group are continuing to drive on their routes and serve passengers while refusing to take fare from them, JapanToday has reported.

According to the report, the launch of a new bus service in the city with some routes overlapping those of Ryobi and a cheaper fare has left the drivers worried. Threatened by the launch of the new service, which uses buses with “cute little face”, drivers working with the Ryobi Group asked their management for improvements to their job security under the added competition.

The management, however, wasn't interested to accommodate the demands. Hence, a strike was declared. To prevent the management from using this opportunity to appeal to the public that thy are putting their own needs before the community’s, the drivers decided to continue providing services to the city dwellers while pressurising the management to accept their demands by not taking a fare.

This is not the first “free ride” strike in the world. Similar strikes were declared in Brisbane and Sydney last year. Protest by Cleveland streetcar workers in 1944 is the earliest documented case of a “fare strike”.