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Human rights group asks for worker-safety probe at Tokyo Olympic venues

21 Comments
By Stephen Wade

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21 Comments
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Calling those buildings a "village" is laughable. What an ugly urban landscape.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Japan is not going to fold under pressure from any rights groups. It will get brushed off, and passed over with no comment. Odds are this wont even make the mainstream media nor newspapers, as the show must go on.

11 ( +12 / -1 )

Tokyo is open to international scrutiny during an Olympic event.

The world knows that foreign workers are building the venues.

As said, ‘it won’t go away’

6 ( +7 / -1 )

agree with kurisupisu

3 ( +5 / -2 )

"Yuson cited an interview in Tokyo with a migrant worker from Vietnam who didn't speak or read Japanese."

and

"It said most wages were half to one-third of those paid to Japanese workers."

That is why they are not being paid the same wages as the Japanese because foreigners can't speak or write Japanese thus they can't perform the same jobs as the Japanese ,which require Japanese ability and higher skills level.

LOL LOL LOL

-11 ( +1 / -12 )

I just imagine how many foreigners not Vietnamese who can't read or write Japanese and getting a better wages than Japanese people, is that fair?

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Japan is not going to fold under pressure from any rights groups. It will get brushed off, and passed over with no comment. 

Same with most other countries preparing for the Olympics and World Cup. A lot of this going on and even worker deaths being swept under the carpet.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

A very good report.  Foreign workers are mostly hired by subcontractors where violations of human rights and exploitations are everyday happenings. The subcontractors make profits by cutting pays of their workers to get gaps they get from their parent companies. They belong to the category we call "black companies."

4 ( +4 / -0 )

I know a Japanese working for a very ‘black company’-no insurance,no pension payments,wages in cash etc..

And that is how a Japanese treats a fellow Japanese!

What hope do the foreigners have?

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Sadly NOTHING will happen, with basically a year to go Jpn will kick this down the road & suddenly the olympics will start, "mission" accomplished

Japan has been crapping on those low on the totem pole since forever, part of the culture sadly

4 ( +4 / -0 )

This is funny, they could spend decades in Japan on this topic alone

3 ( +3 / -0 )

 because foreigners can't speak or write Japanese thus they can't perform the same jobs as the Japanese ,which require Japanese ability and higher skills level.LOL LOL LOL

well guess what my Japanese ability speaking and writing is limited, but it doesn't stop me earning considerably more than your average J salary, last year I actually paid more tax that what the average Japanese worker earns in a year. how is that possible you may ask? well I have skills that my job requires that most Japanese dont pocess. and no Im not an english teacher ... In fact the average wage in my home country is more than what a J salaryman earns in Japan . So as you can see the so called "Japanese ability and higher skills level" doesn't mean squat outside Japan and certainly doesn't guarantee you a high wage in Japan .LOL LOL LOL

3 ( +4 / -1 )

The report alleges patterns of overwork, some workers without employment contracts, and what it characterized as a "culture of fear" that discouraged workers from reporting their employment conditions.

Lol! TIJ!

4 ( +4 / -0 )

foreigners not Vietnamese who can't read or write Japanese and getting a better wages than Japanese people, is that fair?

what does that even mean, they're talking about construction industry which earn higher in Japan because Japanese dont want to do it. basic supply and demand. Foreigners are doing the same job as japanese they require a minimal amount of Japanese language to get the job theyre doing other wise how would they know what to do.

eg, if Im a gaijin installing windows in a building along side a Japanese worker I can understand enough Japanese to do the job (basic Japanese ability is required to get a working visa), we are both doing the exact same job how is it fair that the Japanese earn more than I , basic human rights , same work same pay.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

well guess what my Japanese ability speaking and writing is limited, but it doesn't stop me earning considerably more than your average J salary, last year I actually paid more tax that what the average Japanese worker earns in a year. how is that possible you may ask? well I have skills that my job requires that most Japanese dont pocess. and no Im not an english teacher ... In fact the average wage in my home country is more than what a J salaryman earns in Japan . So as you can see the so called "Japanese ability and higher skills level" doesn't mean squat outside Japan and certainly doesn't guarantee you a high wage in Japan .LOL LOL LOL

Are you working at construction site like these guys interviewed and earning as much as paying more tax than what the average Japanese worker earns in a year? Good for you.

 very good report. Foreign workers are mostly hired by subcontractors where violations of human rights and exploitations are everyday happenings. The subcontractors make profits by cutting pays of their workers to get gaps they get from their parent companies. They belong to the category we call "black companies."

I agree. but I suppose the level of skills must be different and they are almost all trainees. If they cannot support their lives here with such small payments, they should not come.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

They want more information ? More likely who leaked the information on them, so they can go after them.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

He added that Japanese officials "are in the denial stage that problems exist, but they exist."

The bureaucratic MO in Jpn.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Yeah those buildings DO remind me of the ugly danchi left over from the 70-80s nasty way to "live"

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The BWI report said almost half of the workers interviewed did not have formal contracts, and it found "dangerous patterns of overwork" at both high-profile venues. It said some workers at the Olympic Village reported working 28 consecutive days, and up to 26 straight at the national stadium.

Yes This is serious problem for the gov to step in and solve. Not only make all the construction companies conclude formal contracts but also instruct all the agencies which recruit those labors overseas to properly conduct recruiting process helping them to fully understand the contents of contracts and acualu living conditions in Japan. Then those guys shall not complain too much afterwards.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

acualu living conditions in Japan - actual living conditions in Japan

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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