No violations of labour laws to be tolerated

September 22, 2014

Japan to step up Fukushima contractors oversight

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140922_40.html

Sep. 22, 2014 - Updated 13:29 UTC+2

Japan's labor minister says he's ready to strengthen government monitoring of companies that are dispatching workers to decommission the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Yasuhisa Shiozaki visited a labor standards inspection office in Iwaki City on Monday. The office oversees areas surrounding the Fukushima plant.

His visit follows nearly 130 complaints from April to August alone of unpaid wages and inadequate safety measures for workers employed to decommission the Fukushima plant.

Contractors and subcontractors are also accused of not handing over promised danger pay allocated for workers that undertake the cleanup work.

Shiozaki told reporters that decommissioning and decontamination work requires the support of subcontractors far removed from the plant operator.

He stressed that no violations of labor laws can be tolerated in the securing of a workforce to shut down the plant.

The labor minister hinted that if the problem is not dealt with, it will have a negative impact on the ongoing project to decommission Fukushima Daiichi plant.