Vietnamese trainee accuses of being tricked into working in contaminated area in Japan
A young man who went to Japan as a trainee has accused the company that recruited him of being forced to clean up areas contaminated by radiation from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
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Japan's Justice Ministry is investigating a case involving a young Vietnamese man who came to Japan under a government overseas training program and who claims he was tricked into taking part in cleanup work in areas devastated by the 2011 nuclear disaster.
The ministry confirmed by phone that officials were looking into the case of the 24-year-old man, who used to work for a construction company based in Iwate.
The Nikkei newspaper reported on March 6 that the company denied allegations of labor law violations. The company asserted that the young man was assigned the same duties as his Japanese colleagues and that the work did not pose any threat to the health of the workers.
However, the Tokyo-based Zentoitsu Workers' Union, which represents the man, said he was told he would be doing demolition and other work on the site, but was instead assigned to clean up contaminated areas in Fukushima Prefecture.
The association's secretary general, Shiro Sasaki, who is well-versed in trainee issues and understands the situation, said the 24-year-old man came to Japan in September 2015 after signing a contract with the company.
He was then sent to Koriyama in Fukushima Prefecture more than 10 times to clean up residential areas of the city from October 2015 to March 2016.
He then took part in dismantling buildings in a restricted area in Kawamata town, Fukushima prefecture, before authorities lifted restrictions on the evacuation zone due to high radiation.
The man claims he was not informed about the cleanup of contaminated areas following the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
He also said he may have been tricked when he was previously informed that the job was to clean up the construction site.
Mr. Sasaki said it is likely that the company that hired the workers abused the Labor Contract Law, Labor Standards Law and Industrial Safety and Health Law.
The association is also helping to organize negotiations between the young Vietnamese man and the construction company, and is seeking appropriate compensation if he continues to complete the work in his previous three-year contract.
According to Mr. Sasaki, this man is receiving a salary of about 140,000 yen/month, while Japanese workers doing the same job receive a salary nearly 3 times this number.
The government-backed technical intern program is designed to help foreigners gain technical skills, but in reality it exploits workers to make up for a shortage of unskilled workers in Japan.
It is known that this young Vietnamese man quit his job last November due to concerns for his health.
Mr. Shoichi Ibuski, a lawyer on labor issues, said that a vocational training program needs to be suitable for the target of the training system.
“It is difficult to imagine that a trainee can apply the experience of working in a contaminated environment when working in his home country,” he added that a program like this should not be allowed to operate by the Government.
