Japan courier worker goes on solo strike over heatstroke-inducing work environment

TOKYO — A Yamato Transport Co. employee who sorts packages at the company’s warehouse in a west Japan city went on a single-person strike on Aug. 19, demanding more measures against heatstroke.

The male worker, 55, complained at an Aug. 19 press conference in Tokyo, “In the poorly ventilated warehouse, the needle of the thermometer went off the scale, past 40 degrees Celsius, which is a working environment that puts me in danger.”

The man works at a Yamato hub in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture. He had been working as a delivery driver for many years, but began sorting packages at the warehouse in August 2023.

According to the man, in July this year temperatures topping 40 C in the warehouse pushed the heatstroke index to “dangerous,” which calls for the cessation of physical activity in principle. He continued to work after taking headache medicine, but when he visited a hospital in early August, he was told by the doctor that he was suffering from heatstroke.

On Aug. 9, the man entered collective bargaining with his Yamato office. He asked for air-conditioned clothing, but the manager of the office refused, claiming that “the thermometer was broken” and that “the high was 36 C.” The man then went on solitary strike for all of Aug. 19.

His office has reportedly implemented heatstroke countermeasures such as installing fans, spot coolers and a water dispenser in the sorting area, and providing salt candy.

The General Support Union, a labor union with individual affiliations that is backing the Yamato worker, has opened a free “urgent heatstroke consultation hotline” to provide consultations for those working in extremely hot weather. The telephone line is set to be open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Aug. 20, 22 and 23. The phone number is 0120-333-774 (in Japanese).

(Japanese original by Haruna Okuyama, Lifestyle, Science & Environment News Department)