Report: Tokyo Olympics construction workers are being overworked
Work being done to prepare for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo is raising concerns about worker safety. A report entitled, “The Dark Side of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics,” published last month by the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) union, claims that laborers – many of them foreign workers – are being overworked and discouraged from reporting poor employment conditions. Some are required to purchase their own personal protective equipment.
The union is critical of the Tokyo city government and the Japan Sport Council, which are behind structures like a $1.25 billion national stadium and the Olympic Village. After the Olympic Games, both will be sold as high-end apartments.