"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" goes the couriers' creed, and you can add typhoons to that list of hazards if you are a Domino's Pizza courier. When the deadly winds of Typhoon Jebi delivered a devastating blow to western Japan last week, do you know what Domino's Pizza stores in the area did? They put part of their fleet out on the street. Oh yes they did (to sort of borrow one of the company's slogans).
If you can't picture an employer being so reckless with workers' lives, I'm sure you can still find a video or two of Domino's delivery people struggling against the wind swirling around the internet. On the day the storm struck, thousands of Twitter users watched as the delivery trikes and riders were tossed about by the raging storm like child's playthings. Many of these witnesses were enraged that Domino's would put profits over people and play with their lives as if they were casting fate to the wind.
When I asked Domino's about the videos via its website, it explained that the decision to send its delivery people out is ultimately in the hands of individual store managers and assured me that it would continue to operate its stores according to its safety standards. If those standards were a pizza crust at Domino's they would definitely be thin. After all, nobody ever died for the lack of a pizza, but occupational safety is a whole other pie altogether and at Domino's Pizza it seems to be blowing in the wind.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.