| Comment | The Japanese case is an example of 'working to rule' which is often used as a less drastic strike option for workers that are used to being taken advantage of (unpaid overtime, etc). As a university employee, we often use working to rule as a form of industrial action because it's pretty universally acknowledged that if university or teaching staff only did the bare minimum their contracts required of them, schools and universities would swiftly collapse as they are completely dependent on informal labour.
The problem is, working to rule requires there to be some aspect of your job that you can refuse to do without violating the fundamentals of your contract - so the Japanese were able to drive the trains but conveniently forget to collect fares, for example. Scotrail drivers, however, don't have any 'work to rule' option - as their job is strictly defined, and highly safety constrained - they either do their job or not. |
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