{"id":4519,"date":"2019-08-02T17:31:49","date_gmt":"2019-08-02T08:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cnic.jp\/english\/?p=4519"},"modified":"2019-08-05T18:55:47","modified_gmt":"2019-08-05T09:55:47","slug":"foreign-workers-and-work-in-radioactive-environments-tepco-to-postpone-employment-of-foreign-workers-with-specified-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/?p=4519","title":{"rendered":"Foreign workers in Japanese nuclear power plants?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Report of CNIC Seminar <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Kataoka Ryohei <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A seminar titled “Foreign workers and work in radioactive\nenvironments” was held in the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (RENGO)’s\nHeadquarters in Tokyo on May 27, 2019. The seminar was hosted by CNIC and the Radiation-exposed Workers’ Solidarity Network. The participants\nstudied TEPCO’s recent announcement that the company would accept “foreign\nworkers with specified skills” at its Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power\nStation (FDNPS). The “specified skilled worker” is the new status of\nresidence that was introduced in Japan in April 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three people gave lectures in the session. Aoki Miki (Asahi\nShimbun reporter) explained about the current situation concerning foreign\nworkers in Japan. Lawyer Ibusuki Shoichi (Co-Director\nof the Lawyers\u2019 Network for Foreign Technical\nInterns) talked about the status quo of foreign workers facing various\nproblems in Japan, and Nasubi from the Radiation-exposed Workers’ Solidarity Network\nreported on the situation of nuclear power plant workers in other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, I will summarize the lectures given by Ibusuki and Nasubi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid the rapid aging of Japan’s population and declining\nbirthrates, some sectors, such as construction, agriculture and the nursing-care\nbusiness, are confronted with a serious labor shortage. To deal with this\nsituation, economic circles and some industries are calling for official\npermission to employ foreign workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The foreign workers who are currently working in Japan,\nhowever, are facing not only language and communication problems but also\nvarious kinds of problems involving violations of laws, such as excessively\nlong working hours, illegally low and unpaid wages,  bullying and power harassment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essentially, foreign workers’ human rights should be protected\njust as those of domestic workers are, regardless of their nationality or\nstatus of residence. It is therefore necessary to formulate a system in which Japanese\nemployers are allowed to accept foreign workers on condition that they\nguarantee workers\u2019 human rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawyer Ibusuki<\/strong> Shoichi:<\/strong> Current situation of foreign workers in Japan <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of the end of 2018, the number of foreigners living in\nJapan totaled 2,731,093, up 169,245 from the same period of the previous year. Foreign\nworkers officially registered by Japanese employers totaled 1,460,463 as of the\nend of October 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of all foreign nationals working in Japan, Chinese were most numerous, 389,117, followed by Vietnamese, 316,840, and Filipinos, 164,006. Of these, technical interns accounted for 308,489.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Technical Intern Training Program was introduced in 1993.\nAccording to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW), the main purpose\nof the program is to promote transfer of Japan\u2019s technology and skills to developing\ncountries by accepting nonskilled workers from such countries as trainees and\nhelping them acquire job skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reality, however, is that the program is being used by\nJapanese employers as a cover to exploit cheap labor from abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the side of the developing countries, various kinds of problems have also emerged concerning this program, such as intermediary exploitation by suspicious brokers who arrange connections between unskilled foreign workers and Japanese employers, requiring payment of high pre-departure commissions, deposits, and penalties for breaches of contract. Another problem is that the overseas organizations supervising this program are collecting management fees ranging from 30,000 yen to 50,000 yen per trainee from Japanese employers (businesses and farmers).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To officially open the doors to a significant number of\nlower-skilled workers, the government has established two new residence status visas,\nthe Specified Skills No. 1 visa and the higher-level No. 2 visa. The primary\npurpose of this system is to alleviate severe labor shortages in this country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nursing care, construction and twelve other industries were\nallowed to accept these lower-skilled workers. Workers are classified into two\ngroups, according to the level of their skills and knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key requirements to apply for the Specified Skills No. 1\nvisa is to have relevant skills, knowledge and experience, coupled with\nconversational-level Japanese language proficiency. This visa allows its holder\na maximum stay of five years, but the worker cannot be accompanied by his\/her family.\nIf the applicants have three-years\u2019 experience as a foreign technical intern,\nthey are exempt from the tests required for the visa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The higher-level No. 2 visa holder is allowed to be\naccompanied by his\/her family and is eligible to stay indefinitely through visa\nrenewal. The applicants must have high relevant skills and have to pass a qualifying\nexam. Most of the 14 industries, however, have yet to prepare their relevant\nskills tests, and for the time being, only the construction, shipbuilding and\nship machinery industries are able to accept foreign workers under the\nSpecified Skills No.2 visa status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Japanese government has already signed memoranda of\nunderstanding (MOUs) with four countries that are likely to send workers to\nJapan, namely, the Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar and Nepal. In addition, the\ngovernment plans to sign the same agreement with four other nations, Vietnam,\nChina, Indonesia and Thailand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The status of residence of the visa is of vital importance\nto foreign workers in Japan. If s\/he is deprived of the status, or if s\/he is divorced\nfrom a Japanese spouse, the worker must return to his\/her country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technical trainees come to Japan without any knowledge of where they will go or what kind of job they will be required to do. For example, the Vietnamese government forbids its workers to work in the FDNPS or to do decontamination work, but this information was not shared by the Japanese parties concerned. A Vietnamese trainee asked his employer about the meaning of danger pay, and thus came to know that he was engaged in work in a radioactive environment (an environment where a person will be exposed to radiation). This made sensational headlines in mass media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At present, Vietnam is the only country that forbids its\nnationals to work in a radioactive environment. Nevertheless, forcing any\nforeign workers to work in a radioactive environment without their knowledge is\ntotally unacceptable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nasubi: Migrant workers and labor in radioactive\nenvironments <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the EU, some nuclear power plants are located on international borders, and many workers are engaged in labor in radioactive environments in EU member countries. Workers from outside (subcontract workers) totaled around 30,000 in France in 2003, and 10,000 to 15,000 in Britain in 2010. Some of these workers were non-EU foreign workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EU has a system whereby a worker receives documents\nissued by a member country\u2019s exposure-dose control office and then submits the\ndocuments to the exposure-dose control office of the country where he is going\nto work next. Each country provides him with an exposure-dose management book\nto enable him to control his exposure to radiation. But there is no\ninternationally-unified system to control workers\u2019 exposure doses, which poses\na concern about health problems caused by accumulated exposure. Thus there is\nthe need to consolidate data on worker exposure from all areas of the EU and conduct\nunified management of the data. Additionally, it is necessary to unify related\nregulations of the EU member nations and formulate a system of compensation for\nhealth damage caused in other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Japan, the exposure-dose management book system was established by the industry organization for the purpose of using the book basically in Japan alone. The regulations concerning the safety of labor in radioactive environments are applied solely to the domestic businesses employing or recruiting such workers. If a foreign worker was engaged in labor in radioactive environments in Japan and became sick after returning to his country, it would be possible for him to claim Japanese worker compensation. It is, however, very unlikely that he will be granted the compensation.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In FDNPS, the working environment for Japanese workers is\nalso appalling. Due to the multi-tier subcontractor system, the responsibilities\nof the electric power company, the prime contractors, and subcontractor\nemployers are ambiguous. Thus, there is a concern that the problems facing the\nJapanese workers at present may become even more serious and difficult to\nresolve if the nuclear power plant operator accepts foreign workers with\nspecified skills. One of the possible problems for foreign workers is that the\neducation and training on labor in radioactive environments would be provided\nby using Japanese language textbooks and they may not be able to fully\nunderstand the contents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 18, 2019, TEPCO announced that the utility will accept\nforeign workers with specified skills at FDNPS. According to the company, the\nspecified skills are construction, production of industrial machinery, electric\nand electronic information work, automobile repairs, cleaning of buildings, and\nfood service. Referring to decommissioning of the nuclear power plant, it said\nconstruction workers would play a central role in the operations and added that\nthe firm would also accept foreign construction workers in the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa\nNuclear Power Station. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Justice Ministry has not allowed the FDNPS operator to accept technical intern trainees at the plant, citing the fact that the trainees are unable to acquire technical knowledge and skills from their work in the plant. On the other hand, the ministry has approved acceptance of foreign workers with specified skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the workers with the Specified Skills No.1 visa are\nrequired to have sufficient Japanese language proficiency to conduct slow-speed\ndaily conversation and have no language problems in daily life, work in nuclear\npower plants is very complicated and requires a high-level communication\nability. Communication difficulties between workers may result in worksite\naccidents, worker injuries and deaths. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to TEPCO, the number of foreign nationals\nregistered with FDNPS as radiation-related workers totaled 29 as of February\n2019. When an incinerator was built in the plant in May 2018, six\nforeign-national technical intern trainees took part in the construction work,\nthe utility company said. In March 2018, it was disclosed that a number of\ntechnical intern trainees were forced to participate in decontamination work,\nand four construction-related companies were punished by the Ministry of Justice\nat that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On May 21, immediately before this seminar, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry (HLWM) issued a circular (\u203b1) in which it imposed very severe requirements on TEPCO regarding acceptance of foreign workers with specified skills at its nuclear power plants. The notice stipulated three types of requirements, those that should be carried out by the utility, requirements to be implemented by prime contractors, and requirements by the employers of such foreign workers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, TEPCO announced on May 22 that it would not\naccept foreign workers with specified skills at its nuclear power plants for\nthe time being (\u203b2). Hinting at the possibility of\naccepting such foreign workers in the future, the utility company added that it\nwould continue its efforts to improve working environments at the plants in\ncooperation with its affiliated companies. We, however, feel that TEPCO should\nnot accept such foreign workers, not only at present but in the future as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u203b1 \u201cCircular Notice 0521 No.1: Concerning\ndissemination of the need to ensure industrial safety and health of foreign\nworkers in TEPCO\u2019s FDNPS\u201d (issued by the Industrial Safety and Health\nDepartment of the Labor Standards Bureau, HLWM, on May 21,2019) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u203b2 Report on HLWM\u2019s circular\nnotice concerning dissemination of the need to ensure industrial safety and\nhealth of foreign workers in TEPCO\u2019s FDNPS (issued by TEPCO Holdings Inc. on\nMay 22, 2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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