High-Level BWI Mission Visit 2020 Tokyo Sites

29 September 2018 17:55

BWI delegation in Tokyo. 

Last week, a BWI delegation led by General Secretary Ambet Yuson visited the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games sites, as part of BWI’s Global Sports Campaign for Decent Work. The delegation which included Dietmar Schaefers, Deputy President of BWI and Vice-Chair of IG BAU and Johan Lindholm, Vice-President for BWI Europe Region and President of Byggnads visited three sites – The Tokyo 2020 Olympics Canoe Slalom Course, Olympics Aquatics Center, and the Sea Forest Waterway.

“The site visits were highly informative and provided insight on the current status of the construction phase of the Games.  In many ways, the sites were similar to that of what you see in Europe and in my own home country-Germany.  We hope that in future visits, we will have opportunities to talk to workers and employers to get more details as to working and safety conditions on the sites.” stated Dietmar Schaefers.

In addition to site-visits, the delegation met with decision-makers from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government; the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; and the Ministry of the Olympics. The delegation found the meetings useful to understand the dynamics of the various government agencies responsible for putting on Tokyo 2020.  

The delegation also met with the Japanese national centre JTUC-RENGO, where they were briefed on the organization’s overall plan and specific activities in ensuring decent work linked to the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

“The BWI has been at the very forefront of engagement in ensuring Tokyo 2020 champions decent work, and what we have seen over the last few days is very promising,” said BWI General Secretary Ambet Yuson.

“However, challenges remain in a number of areas, such as ensuring safety and health, rights of migrant workers who are classified as trainees, pervasive practice of over work, and ensuring labour rights throughout the supply chain,” Yuson continued.

The meetings and site visits were organized by BWI Japanese Affiliates Council (BWI-JAC), whose leadership also participated in both the meetings and site visits throughout the two-days.