Nuclear workers kept in dark

on Fukushima hazard pay

1 OF 5. Workers in protective suits and masks wait to enter the emergency operation center at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
power plant in Fukushima prefecture in this November 12, 211 file photo
2 OF 5. ! worker is screened for radiation as he enters the emergency operation center at "okyo #lectric $ower %o&
'"#$%()*s tsunami+crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture in ,ore&&&
BY MARI SAITO AND ANTONI SLODKOWSKI-Wed Oct 8, 2014 6:
'-euters) + !lmost a year after .apan pledged to double
hazard pay at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, workers are still in the dark about
how much e/tra they are getting paid, if anything, for cleaning up the worst nuclear
disaster since %hernobyl&
0nder pressure to improve working conditions at Fukushima after a series of
radioactive water leaks last year, "okyo #lectric $ower %o $resident Naomi 1irose
promised in November to double the hazard pay the utility allocates to its
subcontractors for plant workers& "hat would have increased the amount each worker
at the nuclear facility is supposed to earn to about 213 a day in hazard pay&
(nly one of the more than three dozen workers interviewed by -euters from .uly
through 4eptember said he received the full hazard pay increase promised by "epco&
4ome workers said they got nothing& 5n cases where payslips detailed a hazard
allowance, the amounts ranged from 267 to about 28 a day 9 at best half of what
1irose promised&
5n some instances, workers said they were told they would be paid a hazard bonus
based on how much radiation they absorb 9 an incentive to take additional risks at a
dangerous work site&
(ne worker interviewed by -euters said he was told he would get an additional 2:;
per day every time he was in so+called <hot zones= near -eactors No& 1 and No& 2&
!nother worker was told he would receive an hourly rate that worked out to 2:,;
e/tra in hazard pay for being e/posed to the radiation limit for .apan*s nuclear workers
over a five+year period& !nd a third worker said he was told the payout for that same
e/posure would be 267,&
!ssessing how much Fukushima workers are being paid is complicated by "epco*s
insistence that pay is a private matter for its contractors& "he power utility, which runs
Fukushima and has been nationalized, sits at the top of a contracting pyramid that
includes construction giants such as "aisei %orp& "epco has declined to disclose details
of any of its legal agreements with its subcontractors&
"he top "epco official at the plant conceded during a .uly press tour of the comple/
that he did not know how much of the increase in hazard pay was being disbursed&
>When it comes to the pay rise, 5 don*t have an e/act understanding of how much
money is getting directly to the workers,> said !kira (no, the Fukushima plant
manager&
"epco said in a statement to -euters that it instructs subcontractors to ensure workers*
pay is included in all contracts and it also asks companies working at the plant to
submit documentation for all the subcontractors they use& "he power utility said it had
recently begun random checks of some of the smaller contractors to determine how
much of the hazard pay is reaching workers& ! worker who filled in a "epco survey told
-euters in 4eptember that one of the ?uestions was directly related to hazard pay&
"epco still relies on some 3 mostly small contractors to provide workers for the
cleanup after the tsunami that swamped the plant on ,arch 11, 211 sparked
meltdowns at three reactors& 4ubcontractors provide almost all of the 7, workers
now employed at the plant& "okyo #lectric employs only about 2; on its own payroll
at the facility&
"he workforce at Fukushima has almost doubled over the past year, mostly as part of
an effort to protect groundwater from being contaminated and to store water that
comes in contact with melted fuel in the reactor buildings&
4ome of the workers who arrived recently at the plant have been building bunkers to
store highly radioactive sludge, which is a by+product of the process whereby
contaminated water is treated& (thers are installing e?uipment to freeze a ring of earth
around four reactors at Fukushima to keep water from reaching the melted cores, an
unprecedented effort directed by @aAima %orp and e/pected to cost nearly 26
million&
@azumitsu Nawata, a professor in the 0niversity of "okyo*s department of technology
who has researched conditions inside Fukushima, said that if workers do not receive
pay that is commensurate with the risks they are taking, they will ultimately look
elsewhere for employment& 5f more e/perienced workers leave for safer Aobs in "okyo
where construction proAects are accelerating ahead of the 22 (lympic Bames, it will
also increase the likelihood of accidents at the plant, Nawata said in an interview&
>0ntil now, we have relied heavily on the goodwill of workers& Cut it*s already been
three years since the accident& "his is no longer sustainable,> he said&

5BN(-#D $D#DB#
Dike other workers, @oAi 4akurada learned about the hazard pay pledge soon after
"epco president 1irose made his announcement last November& News of the promised
increase spread by word of mouth and te/t messages at a crowded break room at the
plant&
>5 e/pected one of my 'subcontractor) employers to call a meeting to talk about a raise,
but there was nothing,> 4akurada said& >"hey completely ignored "epco*s
announcement&>
Cy then, 4akurada, ;2, had already spent a year and a half scanning buses and work
vans for radiation as they left the plant& Wearing a protective suit and mask, he worked
a nine+hour shift running a Beiger counter over the vehicles in a makeshift tent set up
as a decontamination station& 1e was paid about 28 an hour&
4akurada was one of four Fukushima workers who last month filed a lawsuit seeking to
hold "epco responsible for conditions at the plant, even for workers it does not employ
directly& 5t marks the first time "epco has been sued for a failure to police the
employment practices of its subcontractors&
"he lawsuit, which was filed in a court in the city of 5waki, about 7 kms '6E miles)
south of the nuclear plant, seeks 27, in unpaid wages& 5t also seeks to have
Fukushima workers put on "epco*s payroll or have the utility otherwise take
responsibility for their pay& F5DGnD6N-:EFH
"epco said it had not yet received 4akurada*s lawsuit& >5f a suit has indeed been filed,
we will check the demands and claims and make a sincere effort to deal with it,> the
company said&
5nterviews with 6E current and former workers, almost all of whom spoke on condition
of anonymity, revealed a wide variance in how they were being compensated,
particularly for hazard pay& 4i/ workers employed by different subcontractors for
"aisei and who were working side by side in .uly building concrete bunkers were
receiving a hazard allowance that ranged from zero to 28 a day&
"aisei said it could not comment on the claims without more details about the identity
of the workers& "he company said it oversees and monitors all the subcontractors it
employs&
(nly one worker interviewed by -euters, a crane operator who reports to -aito @ogyo,
a large "okyo+based construction company, said he was receiving the promised hazard
allowance of 213 per day&
(DI,$5% !NB4"
"epco*s pledge last November to increase hazard pay came after a nudge from .apan*s
government, which was seeking to burnish its image in the weeks leading up to $rime
,inister 4hinzo !be*s pitch last year for "okyo to host the (lympics& !be assembled a
previously undisclosed public relations team for this purpose, including officials from
the trade and foreign ministries, according to two members of the team&
With Fukushima spinning back into crisis as new revelations emerged of radioactive
water leaks, the .apanese were concerned that their chances of pulling off a successful
(lympic bid might be damaged& !be*s then+trade minister compared "epco*s attempts
to control the leaks to a game of >whack+a+mole&>
5n Cuenos !ires in early 4eptember, !be told the 5nternational (lympic %ommittee
that the water leaks from Fukushima were >under control,> a remark that attracted
widespread criticism from opposition lawmakers and environmental activists back
home&
Cy late (ctober, after "okyo was awarded the Bames, !be*s $- team was battling
negative publicity over working conditions at Fukushima, the two team members said&
!buses at the plant were outlined in a report by -euters that e/posed illegal labor
practices as well as the involvement of organized crime in providing workers for the
clean+up& F5DGnD:N140.H
"he government encouraged "epco to take action, partly in response to the reports&
"hat led to 1irose*s announcement in November to double hazard pay, according to
one of the people on the $- team&
Within weeks of the pledge, "epco was ?uietly back+pedalling& 5n a letter issued to
contractors in late November, first reported in the ,ainichi newspaper, the company
said the promise to double the hazard allotment was >aimed at improving pay for
workers,> but that did not mean each worker would necessarily see a pay increase of
that amount&
5n testimony before parliament in ,arch where he was ?uestioned about hazard pay,
1irose said he wanted to encourage "epco*s contractors to pay >an appropriate wage to
each and every worker&>
*D5@# 15""5NB ! -#4#" C0""(N*
4akurada moved to Fukushima in ,ay 212 to be closer to his fiancJe in 5waki& 1e
took a Aob with a local company because he was promised a place to stay&
"($, a local firm that supplies workers for construction, only told 4akurada he would
be working in the nuclear plant two days before he started& When 4akurada asked for a
pay rise to compensate for the increased danger, he said a "($ manager told him it
would be unfair to others to pay him more&
Cy early 21:, 4akurada said he*d seen a ;7+year+old worker fired for reaching his
radiation limit& 1e had also watched another middle+aged worker 9 a man he did not
know 9 die in front of him of an apparent heart attack& None of the other workers knew
how to revive him with a defibrillator kept in the break room, he said&
4akurada ?uit in ,ay& 0nlike the other plaintiffs in the lawsuit, he agreed to be
interviewed and identified by name for this report&
"($Ks manager did not respond to repeated calls to the company head?uarters or
fa/ed ?uestions about 4akurada*s claims&
>"he whole structure at Fukushima, everything from working hours to radiation levels,
needs to be made clear& Dike hitting a reset button,> said 4akurada&
'1 04 dollar L 13&7: .apanese yen)
'!dditional reporting by @evin @rolicki& #diting by Cill "arrant and $eter 1irschberg&)
$osted by "havam