Japan Press Weekly

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2012 December 19 - 25 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Half of workers at Fukushima plant left without receiving hazardous duty pay

TEPCO on December 20 publicized the criteria for payment of hazardous duty pay to workers working at the Fukushima nuclear plant, but still many workers are left without the pay under TEPCO’s multilayered subcontracting structure.

TEPCO disclosed the criteria for the first time to media organizations in the form of responding to an Akahata inquiry, marking a step forward for all the workers to receive the hazardous duty pay.

TEPCO says that it pays a special allowance of up to 20,000 yen a day per worker for recovery work at the wrecked plant and 100,000 yen to managerial and skilled workers there, and that those involved in work with a larger risk of radiation exposure can get paid an extra 20%.

Around 3,000 workers are still coping with the crisis, but the peculiar pyramidal structure of the nuclear industry enables each employer to rake off their wages from the start. A survey TEPCO conducted in September proves that only 51% of the Fukushima plant workers responded they received the hazardous duty pay.

A former worker at the crippled plant told Akahata that he was exposed to more than 10mSv of radiation in one month. He said, “All I got was 11,000 yen a day, and no extra pay for hazardous work.”

The government has provided about five trillion yen in public funds to TEPCO for radiation decontamination and decommissioning of the damaged reactors. TEPCO runs its business on electricity rate revenues paid by a huge number of its customers living in the Tokyo metropolitan area. In short, the utility’s assets and funds are the common property of the people.

Although the financial sources for the hazardous duty pay are covered by the common property, a majority of the workers are saying that they have never got paid any extra pay of that kind. It is TEPCO’s duty to make clear to the public how eligibility of hazardous duty pay is determined.

TEPCO, however, claims that it does not know how much hazardous duty pay it has so far paid to its primary contractors. The company is turning a blind eye to the general contractors’ and subcontractors’ rake-off practice. TEPCO must make efforts to ensure that the hazardous duty pay allowance actually reaches the workers.

Past related past articles:
> JCP posters get favorable response from NPP workers [July 23, 2012]
> Workers at Fukushima nuclear plant do not receive hazardous duty pay [March 14, 2012]
> Subcontracted workers at Fukushima N-plant subject to severe health risks [August 13, 2011]