A group of Fukushima workers on Wednesday sued Tokyo Electric Power Co. for unpaid wages in a potentially precedent-setting legal challenge to the utility and its reliance on contractors to shut down a nuclear plant destroyed by the industry's worst accident since Chernobyl.

The lawsuit, filed by two current and two former workers at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, claims that Tepco and its contractors failed to ensure workers are paid promised hazard allowances, a court filing showed.

The workers say Tepco, allowed subcontractors to skim funds allocated for wages to bolster their own profits on the decommissioning project at the expense of workers.