"IOC's Bach asked to intervene in Tokyo Olympic labor dispute", 24 Nov 2019

An international trade union wants IOC [International Olympic Committee] President Thomas Bach to intervene and investigate alleged labor and safety violations at venues being built for next year’s Tokyo Olympics.

The Building and Wood Workers’ International [BWI]…has asked local organizers, Tokyo’s municipal government, and the Japan Sport Council, for outside inspections of construction sites and the right to interview workers...

...The union asks the International Olympic Committee to “intervene and directly address human rights abuses when local organizing committee fail to do so.”

...The BWI alleges health and safety violations and has been critical of the treatment of migrant workers in Tokyo, the use of subcontractors, and wages. It has also complained about grievance procedures....

[BWI] says three workers have died during the construction process, and it also alleges that “venues have been built using tropical rainforest timber from companies with a documented history of indigenous and worker rights violations.”

...[BWI's] letter [to IOC] references the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights...The IOC has added the U.N. guidelines to host city contracts that come into effect with the 2024 Paris Olympics.

...[T]he IOC said it had asked the International Labor Organization, a United Nations body, to help negotiate a settlement.

“The IOC also engaged in a number of discussions and we still hope a solution can be found,” the IOC said in a statement to AP...