Striking bus drivers go to jail
Source: Xinhua |
February 26, 2013, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
FOUR Chinese bus drivers charged with instigating and inciting an illegal strike in Singapore in November were yesterday sentenced to between six and seven weeks in jail.
All four pleaded guilty to conspiring to instigate an illegal strike, while one of them, He Junling, admitted an additional charge of inciting an illegal strike.
The judge sentenced He to seven weeks in jail for each of the two offences, but said that the sentences "will run concurrently, having regard to the fact that his two offences were part of the same transaction."
The four men were among 171 Chinese bus drivers who failed to report for duty on November 26 last year in protest at inequitable pay raises and alleged discriminatory policies of their employer SMRT, a local public transport operator. Eighty-eight of the drivers continued to stay away from work the next day.
A fifth driver, Bao Fengshan, who pleaded guilty to taking part in an illegal strike was sentenced to six weeks in jail last year.
Twenty-nine others were repatriated to China.
Senior District Judge See Kee Oon said the strike had affected public transport services which were listed among essential services, which means stricter strike rules for workers. He Junling had called for a strike in online posts on a Chinese website, the judge said.
"Their conduct may have been motivated by a sense of grievance. Irrespective of whether their grievances were valid or otherwise, their pleas of guilt signify their awareness that they could not justify taking the law into their own hands."
The judge also said that an aggravating factor was that the strike was planned to put pressure on their employer SMRT in the knowledge that it would cause disruption to the transport services.
However, the drivers had expressed their remorse by pleading guilty, he noted.
Lawyers representing the Chinese drivers on a pro bono basis argued the primary failing of the drivers was that they did not give their employers notice of their intention to stage a strike 14 days ahead of the date of the strike.
All four pleaded guilty to conspiring to instigate an illegal strike, while one of them, He Junling, admitted an additional charge of inciting an illegal strike.
The judge sentenced He to seven weeks in jail for each of the two offences, but said that the sentences "will run concurrently, having regard to the fact that his two offences were part of the same transaction."
The four men were among 171 Chinese bus drivers who failed to report for duty on November 26 last year in protest at inequitable pay raises and alleged discriminatory policies of their employer SMRT, a local public transport operator. Eighty-eight of the drivers continued to stay away from work the next day.
A fifth driver, Bao Fengshan, who pleaded guilty to taking part in an illegal strike was sentenced to six weeks in jail last year.
Twenty-nine others were repatriated to China.
Senior District Judge See Kee Oon said the strike had affected public transport services which were listed among essential services, which means stricter strike rules for workers. He Junling had called for a strike in online posts on a Chinese website, the judge said.
"Their conduct may have been motivated by a sense of grievance. Irrespective of whether their grievances were valid or otherwise, their pleas of guilt signify their awareness that they could not justify taking the law into their own hands."
The judge also said that an aggravating factor was that the strike was planned to put pressure on their employer SMRT in the knowledge that it would cause disruption to the transport services.
However, the drivers had expressed their remorse by pleading guilty, he noted.
Lawyers representing the Chinese drivers on a pro bono basis argued the primary failing of the drivers was that they did not give their employers notice of their intention to stage a strike 14 days ahead of the date of the strike.
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