Published: August 20th, 2012 at 2:18 pm ET
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Title: Tepco liable for contract workers’ safety in Fukushima
Source: Japan Times
Author: Hifumi Okunuki (Constitutional and labor law at Daito Bunka University and Jissen Women’s University)
Date: August 21, 2012
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Less than 10 percent of the work at this nuclear power plant is conducted by those directly employed by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco). Over 90 percent is done by employees of subcontractors, sub-subcontractors and contractors several times removed. These workers come from a wide range of backgrounds, including some who gave up jobs in local agriculture or fishing, farmers and fishermen who work at the plants during the off-season, day laborers and former coal miners. Some have complicated stories to tell, or not to tell.
Few other workplaces require no experience or skill, and fewer still guarantee anonymity to those hoping to hide their background. Nuclear power firms also benefit from the weak position of such individuals since they are largely spared the obligations of most employers to protect the health and safety of each worker on-site.
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Management faces quite serious, possibly criminal, liability if while understanding the risk radiation exposure poses, they endanger those working on-site through a complicated web of outsourcing. Article 87 of the Labor Standards Law holds firms that outsource (outsourcers) responsible for workplace safety and sanitation for workers employed by their subcontractor.
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Recently it was revealed that subcontractors working at Fukushima No. 1 had been ordered to place lead covers over their dosimeters. Tepco claimed to have no knowledge of this (quite literal) cover-up.
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In this writer’s opinion, the working conditions at Fukushima No. 1 are an emergency within an emergency. I believe special laws should be promulgated to guarantee the safety and fair treatment of the workers, and enable them to seek redress through an independent third party. We must never forget or abandon even one of these workers, who hold in their hands the future of the country and endure on all our behalf the most grave of “labor pains.”
Published: August 20th, 2012 at 2:18 pm ET
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Although most of the points here are valid, some are not. The statement "Few other workplaces require no experience or skill, and fewer still guarantee anonymity to those hoping to hide their background" is just not true in the United States, and not true at Fukushima unless they have changed greatly. Most workers at every plant I worked at were highly skilled, and most were union workers. As far as hiding any background, I had to supply 5 years of work and residence background, which was verified by a third party. I also had to supply a letter of reference from corporate General Electric management. Then Tepco spent a week verifying everything I supplied them.
But Tepco should have liability and be punished criminally for many of their actions. From the start Tepco has made their bottom line their first and often only priority. Their shortsightedness and incompetence has made the situation worse and cost their workers and the general public harm. What have the 80,000-100,000 evacuees been paid? Or have they been greatly on their own? Who will pay for the physical harm that will only become apparent and countable after 10-30 years? Can we end the corporate destruction of our world?
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I really enjoy your input out here chrisk9. You're an invaluable addition to this website.
Regarding your main point, I think (just intuition speaking here) there may have been a grammatical error introduced by the translation, in this Japan Times editorial. Aside from that, it's an excellent piece and spot-on in it's tone…
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The Japanese coverup of true radiation levels, sick and dead citizens, and the overt attempt to sicken the heroic workers is beyond appalling. If they would do this to relatively informed adults aware of the dangers…then what lies do they tell the clerks in Tokyo?
The nucleocrats are thankful the accident occurred in such an oppressed land of people. I can only speculate on how a similar catastrophe and coverup would be received in New York or Texas or California or even in that peninsula governed by a bureaucrat who spent $75 million for the honor (not to worry though… his wife's three dozen health facilities have done amazing business since his inauguration). And now we have the privilege to vote for either Mutt &Ryan (aka No Millionaire Left Behind) or BHO ( He Brings Good Things to GE).
Americans may be as a vast majority inane and uninformed sheep on international events, but don't underestimate the sleeping giant. A nuclear event like Fukushima would bring them fully engaged to the problems of nuclear energy. The industry may survive Japan's response, but in America the industry will be personna non grata and probably the government also.
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If the NRC insists on allowing nuke utilities to put off the cost of decommissioning nuke plants by relicensing old nukes to operate well past their design lifetimes, America is surely going to experience a Fuku event on our own shores. Shut down all old GE BWRs now. Shut down all obsolete and dangerous old nukes now. Shut them all down.
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FUKU is just a warning shot across the bow, even though it may still turn out to be a life extinction event all by itself.
12 reasons why all nuclear power plants must be shut down; via A Green Road http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/03/12-reasons-why-all-nuclear-power-plants.html
Super Solar Storm To Hit Earth In 2013 'Carrington Effect'; 400 Nuke Plants Will Melt Down/Explode; via A Green Road http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/03/super-solar-storm-predicted-to-hit-2013.html
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There will never be any worker compensation for the deplorable work conditions. Most of the laws in Japan went right out the window on 3/11, just as most of the laws in the US went right out the window on 9/11.
It's just a fact of life that we must learn to deal with.
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Time: PBS documentary on 911 finally sheds MSM light on 911:
http://m.video.pbs.org/video/2270078138/
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I still think that detonating a nuclear device to consume the reactors, coriums, SFPs, and everything else in the area may have been a better solution for the world as a whole.
Even though it would have destroyed northern japan forever, but isn't it already destroyed forever by the ongoing radiation leaks anyways.
I can only imagine this would no longer be a viable option because of the depth of the coriums and who knows maybe my uneducated opinion is completely wrong but i know i wasn't the only one who had spoken of it.
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Dead witnesses are no good for prosecutors. They are waiting it out dragging their feet until it's long over. Can marshall law be imposed secretly? I mean who really needs to know other than a few dickheads. It has the appearance of a military operation kept hush.
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