Six people enrolled in a foreign trainee program participated in construction work at the disaster-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, despite the plant operator’s ban on program participants working at the complex, officials said Tuesday.
The case is the latest in a string of inappropriate practices involving foreign trainees under the government’s Technical Intern Training Program, often criticized as a cover to import cheap labor.
[…]
The six people were hired by one of Tepco’s subcontractors. “We deviated from our independent rules on employment. We will make our subcontractors thoroughly check the terms of their contracts,” a Tepco official said.
According to the utility, the foreign trainees took part in groundwork at the plant starting in November last year outside the areas where protective measures against radiation are needed. The trainees had not received any training on how to protect themselves from radiation.
The foreign trainee program was introduced in 1993 with the aim of transferring skills to developing countries. But the scheme — which is applicable to agriculture and manufacturing, among other sectors — has drawn criticism as a number of harsh and exploitative cases have been reported.
As of the end of 2017, Japan had received a total of about 270,000 foreigners under the training program. By nationality, Vietnamese accounted for the largest proportion of the total, followed by Chinese and Filipinos.
Read more at Six foreign trainees worked at Fukushima nuclear plant despite ban
