It’s sad to know that Japan is still affected and will be for many years to come from the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami. As a result of the disaster and the poor economy, many workers have no choice but to work at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi power plant. Work at the plant is dangerous and demanding, and workers are often underpaid. Most of the workers, especially those with more dangerous and taxing jobs, are in informal contract labor. The bulky suits they must wear must be put on at a staging area about an hour away, and conditions inside the suits are hot and sweaty. There are high radiation risks, and even at times higher than the government limit. The average workers are estimated to be paid only under $30,000 a year, in contrast to the $94,000 a year made by the average Tokyo Electric employee.
It’s terrible that conditions are so bad that many workers have no other job choices than this to work in. Many had to travel far to work in this plant. Some even had their houses destroyed in the tsunami. It is unfair that they are in such horrible conditions. Many employees are poorly trained, and very little monitoring of radiation exposure has been done since the catastrophe. These poor conditions can possibly lead to health risks, including cancer later in their lives and death due to an accident in the facility. Many of the older workers say it’s too late in their lives to expect to have another type of job after their current job. They are stuck with their current job as their only way to make money.
Work should be done to further educate the employees, give them more pay, and make working conditions safer for them - including minimizing and keeping track of radiation exposure.
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