Sunday, May 29, 2011

250 gather for May Day in Koriyama Voices raised in support of survivors and saying “No to Nukes.”


On May 14th, 250 people gathered for the 82nd May Day rally to defend workers' rights, held at the Koriyama Teachers' Union Hall in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture. The rally was attended not only by union members, but also by survivors of the nuclear and earthquake disaster, and citizens concerned about the nuclear crisis, reflecting the fact that “the nuclear disaster deprived people in Fukushima the right of existence, forcing them to be Hibakusha [radiation victims].” (SATO Kazuyoshi, Iwaki City councilor) YOSHIDA Masaki, who evacuated to Yamagata Prefecture with her son, advised a friend of hers, an organic farmer who lives 20 km from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, to evacuate, but the man replied, "Who is going to de-contaminate the soil, if I don’t?” Yoshida asked why the people of Fukushima had to bear the responsibility for the government's failures. ABE Toshihiro, President of the Azuma Branch of the Zenjiko (Automobile Transport Workers’) Union, pointed out that workers'  stress is near the limit, ”Workers really want to evacuate but cannot, because they will lose their jobs.” (by YUMOTO Masanori)
Union Tube


郡山メーデー集会に250人~被災者支援・脱原発を訴える
5月14日、働くものの権利を守る第82回メーデー集会が、福島県郡山市(郡山教組会館)で開かれ、250名が参加した(写真)。集会には、労働組合員だけでなく、原発震災被災者や反原発に関心がある市民も多く参加した。それは、原発震災が「人間の生きる権利を奪い、福島県民を強制的に被曝者にさせた」(佐藤和良いわき市議)現実の反映である。お子さんと山形県に避難している吉田優生さんは、原発から20kmのところで有機農業を営んでいる友人に避難をすすめたが、「私たちが除染をしないで誰がやるのか?」と言われたという。吉田さんは、そこまで福島県民が国から責任を負わされてることに、大きな疑問を提起した。労働現場からは、阿部利広さん(全自交吾妻分会委員長)が「避難したくても仕事がなく、できない。労働者は、本当は避難したいんです」と限界線上で働かされている現実を訴えた。(湯本雅典) ・動画(UnionTube) 

No comments: