Workers sue TEPCO over unpaid hazards pay

September 3, 2014

Fukushima plant workers sue for proper hazard pay

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140903_26.html

Sep. 3, 2014 - Updated 10:26 UTC+2

Workers at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant have filed a lawsuit against the plant's operator and its contractors, demanding proper payment for their work, which is extremely dangerous.

The plaintiffs are 4 men in their 30s to 60s who work for subcontractors that have helped to install piping for wastewater tanks and remove debris.

Last year, Tokyo Electric Power Company doubled a hazard allowance to about 190 dollars per day, to attract a sufficient number of workers to the reactor decommissioning effort.

Wages and the hazard allowances and are paid to workers through contractors and subcontractors. But the plaintiffs say their income remains unchanged.

The 4 men filed a lawsuit with the Iwaki branch of Fukushima District Court on Wednesday, demanding that TEPCO, its contractors and subcontractors pay them more than 570,000 dollars in damages.

The plaintiffs claim the contractors and subcontractors have taken the hazard pay instead of giving it to those who actually do the work.

They accuse TEPCO of failing to arrange the proper distribution of the hazard pay.

The plaintiffs' lawyers say this is the first lawsuit holding Tokyo Electric Power accountable for improving wages and working conditions at the crippled nuclear plant.

One of the plaintiffs said it's outrageous that companies that only introduce jobs to workers get extra payment, while those who do the hard work get nothing.

TEPCO said will study details of the lawsuit and respond honestly.

Fukushima workers sue Tepco over unpaid hazard wages, reliance on contractors

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/09/03/national/fukushima-workers-sue-tepco-over-unpaid-hazard-wages-reliance-on-contractors/#.VAb9xGOnq1s

Reuters

IWAKI, FUKUSHIMA PREF. – A group of Fukushima workers on Wednesday sued Tokyo Electric Power Co. for unpaid wages in a potentially precedent-setting legal challenge to the utility and its reliance on contractors to shut down a nuclear plant destroyed by the industry’s worst accident since Chernobyl.

The lawsuit, filed by two current and two former workers at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, claims that Tepco and its contractors failed to ensure workers are paid promised hazard allowances, a court filing showed.

The workers say Tepco, allowed subcontractors to skim funds allocated for wages to bolster their own profits on the decommissioning project at the expense of workers.

The lawsuit seeks the equivalent of roughly ¥62 million in unpaid wages from Tepco and related contractors. It marks the first time that the utility has been sued for the labor practices of the construction companies it employs.

The lawsuit also asks that the 6,000 workers partaking in the nuclear clean-up project either be made effectively government employees, be put on the Tepco payroll directly or be fairly paid.

Tsuguo Hirota, 68, the lawyer coordinating the lawsuit, said he expects two additional workers will join the action immediately and that more could follow. Japanese law allows for additional plaintiffs with related claims to join an existing lawsuit.

“A year ago, Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe told the world that Fukushima was under control,” Hirota said in an interview. “But that’s not the case. Workers are not getting promised hazard pay and skilled workers are leaving. It’s becoming a place for amateurs only, and that has to worry anyone who lives near the plant.”

Tepco had no immediate comment.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday morning by Hirota, the four plaintiffs and a group of supporters at a branch of Fukushima court in Iwaki, about 60 km south of the wrecked nuclear plant.

September 2, 2014

4 workers hired to decommission Fukushima plant plan 90 million yen suit on unpaid hazard pay

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201409020056

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

Four workers involved in the decommissioning process at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant plan to sue the operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., and the general contractors who hired them for skimming off their danger allowances.

According to their lawyers, the workers say that TEPCO and their employers failed to ensure that they received the hazard pay to which they are entitled.

They are demanding a total of 90 million yen ($865,385) in damages.

The lawsuit, expected to be filed at the Fukushima District Court on Sept. 3, would be the first such suit to be brought by workers at the plant, the lawyers said.

The plaintiffs, aged 34 through 65, previously worked or are now employed on the decommissioning project, including clearing radioactive debris and decontaminating vehicles used at the plant. They were employed by general contractors to which the utility outsourced the work.

Two of them still work at the nuclear complex.

TEPCO’s payment to its contractors includes danger allowances for their workers at the plant.

The utility doubled the allowance to 20,000 yen a day per person for work that it outsourced starting in December last year.

But the four say they have never received such hazard pay since they started working at the plant, according to the lawyers.

“TEPCO is responsible for ensuring that the danger allowances are actually paid to workers,” said Tsugio Hirota, who leads a team of lawyers for the plaintiffs. “We intend to reveal the payment practices in which the allowances have been skimmed off.”

A TEPCO public relations official declined to be interviewed regarding the planned suit.

“We cannot comment since we have yet to confirm the facts of the situation,” the official said.