Japanese Council of Transport Workers' Unions chairman Toshihiko Sumino talks about the results of a survey on "customer harassment" in Tokyo's Minato Ward on Dec. 10, 2021. (Mainichi/Satoshi Tokairin)

       TOKYO -- Some 46.6% of members of the Japanese Council of Transport Workers' Unions who responded to a recent survey say they have been victims of malicious complaints by clients and other nuisance behavior considered "customer harassment."

       The large union, consisting of members of railway, airline, truck and other transportation-related labor unions, expressed a sense of crisis that "personnel are being hurt both physically and mentally by customer harassment."

       The survey was conducted to investigate the actual situation surrounding customer harassment, and 20,908 council union members working in the transportation and tourism service industries replied. Of the respondents, 86.4% were male and 13.0% were female. By age group, 29.3% were in their 40s, followed by those in their 30s, 50s and 20s.

       To a question asking if they had been harassed by customers in the last two years, 46.6% of the respondents replied "yes." Those in the taxi industry had the highest figure at 58%, followed by the bus industry at 54.4% and the railway industry at 52.4%. Even the maritime transportation and port and harbor industry, which had the smallest figure, stood at 15.1%.

       Moreover, 57.1% of all respondents answered that customer harassment "is increasing." The ratio is high in the airline and bus industries, and it seems that stress caused by the coronavirus pandemic is affecting users.

       By gender, 86.4% of respondents said they were harassed by male customers while 10.7% said the harassment came from female customers. By age group, 29.2% of the perpetrators were in their 50s, and 70% were in their 40s, 50s or 60s.

       As for the content of the harassment, "verbal abuse" was the most common form, reported in 49.7% of cases, followed by "repeating the same complaints" at 14.8%, "threats and intimidation" at 13.1%, and "taking an authoritative attitude such as giving lectures" at 9.4%. In addition, there were reports of sexual harassment and online slander.

       Half of the respondents who were harassed said they "continued to feel unpleasant and uncomfortable" due to such customer behavior, and in some cases, it led to a lack of sleep or visits to a psychosomatic department, which apparently in certain cases resulted in them leaving their jobs.

       Meanwhile, regarding the companies' responses, 21% said "they are providing education on countermeasures against nuisance behavior" and 19.9% said "manuals are being developed," while 39.5% answered that "no particular measures have been taken," highlighting a delay in responses. Among similar complaints, one airline worker explained, "There are many cases of camera voyeurism and physical touching from customers, but the company fails to take any measures."

       Based on this data, the council says it will ask the Japanese government and related organizations to take steps to prevent customer harassment. Toshihiko Sumino, chairman of the council, comprising 600,000 members, said, "We can't ignore the issue of customer harassment which leads to staff turnovers and other problems. We will make efforts to create a workplace where people can do their jobs with pride and hope."

       (Japanese original by Satoshi Tokairin, Tokyo City News Department)

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