News from Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Trade Unions（Fukushima Roren）

On October 30, about 10,000 people gathered in Fukushima City to take part in “Eliminate nuclear power plants! October 30 assembly in Fukushima”

APPEAL

Living in Fukushima, we work for tomorrow --A call from Fukushima

October 30 Assembly in Fukushima to Make Fukushima a Place for Everyone to Live without Fear

The March 11 earthquake and tsunami meant debunked the safety myth. It was a nuclear disaster that we had feared.

The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is not a natural disaster or something beyond what we had assumed. It is a man-made disaster. Tokyo Electric Power Company, which failed to take necessary safety measures while putting profit before anything else, is responsible. So is the government, which has backed the utility.

Try to close your eyes and imagine:

• Residents have been displaced from their hometown and are unsure whether they can return;
  
• They are infuriated by the loss of land they have cultivated and the sea as a main source of richness;
  
• Farmers are sad because they no longer have the joy of seeing people eat farm produce they have carefully grown;
  
• Fukushima’s people are frustrated to see consumers avoid choosing produce from Fukushima;
  
• Children were sad when they were separated from their friends before together making the only memory in life, and without a chance to say good-by;
  
• Parents agonize over their children’s future as they look at their children’s sleeping face. “Can I protect you?”
  
• Many families are broken up in order to protect their children; they feel tired so much.
  

Fukushima’s people are standing up for life.

We issue this call from Fukushima to the rest of the country and to the world.

We want to restore our everyday lives as early as possible so that we can bring up children, live and work peacefully without fear or anxiety.

We call for protection of children from radiation exposure. Let us demand full compensation for damage caused by the nuclear disaster.

Let us do away with nuclear power plants.

Give us back to what was before March 11 in Fukushim on the responsibility of TEPCO and the government.

We cannot coexist with nuclear power plants.

We call on you to raise your voice to leave the beautiful mother earth, the sky and the sea to our children.

Eliminate nuclear power plants!