Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ethan Allen Hawley]

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"If we fail to speak up for others, who will be left to speak up for us?"

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You and I as English teachers - whether legally employed or not - need to be concerned about the current crackdown on migrant workers.

We need to be concerned because it is the thin end of the wedge

� a favourite tool of politicians using the politics of divisiveness and fear to keep the population unsettled and compliant

- we have seen another example relevant to �our� employment world very recently with immigration demanding Canadians get a different type of criminal check report that was never designed to be used for international purposes.

This type of attitude has a huge flow-on effect, from individual school and hagwon owners feeling attitudes of negativity and mistrust towards foreign employees are justified, to more concrete examples of abuse which we see all too often reflected here at Dave's,

So, we need to be more than concerned about the direction the current government is taking in promoting this style of relationship with the local foreigner community � we need to give a response � personal, and preferably collective too.

What kind of response? Well, personally, you can do the following.

1.) Seek out and support petitions.

2.) Seek out and share more information on what is happening. Check official news channels, and unofficial, too. Post the news here, on the facebook group �Migrant Workers� Union in South Korea� or elsewhere,
and, especially if you have a good Korean spouse or friend, encourage them to make postings on Korean internet websites with specific information.

3.) Make contacts. Greet the local migrant workers you see around your neighbourhood, in the store, at church or in the bar. Get to know their stories. Introduce them around - especially to trusted Korean friends.

4.) Find and share ways to work against the planned law, announced in September to be passed and to come into effect next year, to persecute migrant workers.


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Good morning. My name is Wolsan Liem, from the Migrants Trade Union.
We�re a union of migrant workers from all countries - documented, undocumented - fighting for migrants� rights.

So you heard that the Philippine government is trying to take your money, but at the same time the Korean government is also trying to take your money before you even go back to your country. For those people who came here under EPS [the Filipino �Employment Permit System�] the [Korean] government on September 25th made an announcement.

They said: �The economy is not strong enough. The country�s economy is not competitive enough and so we have to try to use migrant workers even more efficiently. We have to reduce the costs and bring in more migrant workers.�

So what did they say for EPS workers? When you come here, you know now they said they were going to give a training period for three months where you can receive less than minimum wage � minimum wage is about a million won a month � then it would be less than that. First they said three months and then they said they were going to extend that period to six months and so that money goes to the employer not to you.

And the other thing is that usually employers give EPS workers �gisuksah� or [dormitory-style] housing and food, right? They said starting next year they�re going to put that cost on the migrant workers themselves.

And then they said: �Well, migrant workers change their workplaces too often, so we�re going to make it even harder for them to change their workplaces�

� even though you all know how hard it is to change your workplace already, no matter how bad it is.

They have this plan and they announced it September 25th and they�re going to pass it by next year and start it by next year.

At the same time they also said: �There are too many undocumented migrant workers. They know too much Korean. They�re too hard for us to exploit so we�re going to get rid of them even more than we already are.�

So you know the crackdown against undocumented migrant workers? It�s very very strong right now. They said they�re going to make it even stronger: �From now until the end of the year we�re going to catch 20,000 undocumented migrant workers.�

That�s more than all the undocumented migrant workers that were arrested in the first two-thirds of this year.

And then they said: �We�re going to do that twice a year, every year, for a total of eight months.

So, what that means [is that] undocumented migrant workers constantly, constantly have to live in fear that they�re going to be arrested.

And it�s not just about undocumented migrant workers. For EPS workers if there�s a crackdown it makes it even harder for you to move around. It makes it harder for you to even think about leaving your factory.

The Philippine government is saying they want to take your money. Now the Korean government is saying: �We want to take your money and control you even more, even though it�s your labor that�s supporting this economy and you�re the ones doing the work that Korean labourers won�t do, that Korean workers are avoiding.� So, this is the plan that the government has right now.

And it�s not just about migrant workers. At the same time the government is also trying to exploit Korean workers. It�s saying that if Korean workers fight for their rights they�re going to be arrested too. Their houses are going to be invaded.

So it�s part of a larger plan, and it�s not just about migrant workers but it�s about all workers.

So, it�s very important right now that migrant workers come together - and also with Korean workers - to try and stop this plan, because it hasn�t happened yet. It was announced on September 25th and it�s true the crackdown has gotten very strong, but it hasn�t passed in the national assembly yet, and so if you come together, and you let other people know, and we start demanding our rights, it�s possible to stop this plan in the national assembly.

So probably in the future you�re going to start seeing petitions to sign that say: �Full labour rights for migrant workers. Stop the crackdown. Legalisation. Protect freedom of association.�

You�ll see a petition. It�s very important that you sign the petition and also let other people know. Let other people know that the crackdown is really strong and that we have to be careful, but we have to come together to stop it.

So, as you fight against the Pilipino government trying to take your money, fight against the Korean government trying to control you, trying to take your money, as well.

Thank you.

Source:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PI-2TBf9doA

[Yu_Bum_suk]

The current crackdown is targetted at illegal migrant workers and I have no problem with that so long as that's its focus. I'd be careful not to confuse crackdowns on illegal immigrants with changes in legislation to legal workers' rights.

[TheChickenLover]

Toss the illegals out. They've created nothing but headaches for those who are here on our own merit. The excuse "everyone needs to make some money" doesn't hold very firm when you're an economic refugee.

I wish they actually really tried to solve this problem. It makes no sense to publicize what they are doing & give people enough time to get out b4 they are nabbed.

Chicken

[Ethan Allen Hawley]

Yu Bum said:

"The current crackdown is targetted at illegal migrant workers and I have no problem with that so long as that's its focus."

Yeah, that may be its focus, but of course the impact is felt more widely than that.

These are educated people who typically pay about 4 million won just to get here (which is an even more hugely large sum for someone from the Philippines or similar economy) and then have to work illegally or get kicked out - and the crack down is on the workers - NOT the employers.

It's like if you're working illegally at a hagwon and get caught and you instead of simply getting fined a bit you actually get deported, instantly,
and your boss gets... nothing.

But it's different from that because the situation is usually manipulated so that you'd have no choice but to work illegally, so your boss would have more control over you.

"I'd be careful not to confuse crackdowns on illegal immigrants with changes in legislation to legal workers' rights."

Thanks for that.
I'm not confusing them, I'm drawing the relationship between them.
If you ignore the vindictive nature of the former, it's a matter of time before the ethos of the latter is apparent even in your world, however legal you are.


ChickenLover said:

"Toss the illegals out. They've created nothing but headaches for those who are here on our own merit."

Huh?! How exactly have 3D workers created headaches for you? (Presuming you are actually here on 'merit' of some sort.)
And how have illegal English teachers created headaches for you?

And do you realise, by the way, that all those 3D workers have to have degrees, just like you or me?
And do you keep in mind that they pay money to come here to work at below Korean minimum wage doing dangerous, repetitive jobs for an average of about 60 hours a week so that their Korean boss can send their kids to your school or pay for your privates?

So, please, tell me how their work and their harrassment by 'our country''s government is a headache for you?

[Unposter]

Immigration laws have been skewed to force most of the 3D workers in Korea to work illegally so that factory owners can pay them less than minimum or going wage and not provide benefits. This is a serious human rights problem here in Korea.

Korea could change the laws to make the over-welming majority of 3D workers legal but the Factory lobby keeps this from happening as they profit from their misery.

Personally, I don't think there is much we can do about the situation but I do think we can be sympathetic to their situation. A little humanity goes a long way for all...

[Captain Corea]

[jkelly80]

If you're going to have free trade, you need to have free and unhindered movement of labor. Otherwise the deck gets stacked awful quick in the interests of ownership.

[jdog2050]

[Captain Corea]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[Unposter]

Man, I did not think people would get so worked up about 3D workers. If you don't want to care about them, fine, that is your business but don't get in the way of those of us who have a heart.

The problem is these workers who are the backbone of the construction and medium sized industries here in Korea are only given (I really cannot remember what the term limit is -I'm guessing it is 3 years) and then they can NEVER get an industrial train-ee visa even no matter what.

Imagine that!

It doesn't matter if a company wants to hire them (they all do); it is not a matter of filling out any documents. Here they are trained and skilled workers but by definition they cannot re-new their visas regardless of the companies jumping to hire them. So, they work illegally.

All Korea has to do is change the visa law so that a company can sponsor them and 75% of these problems would be fixed. But, since the factories are happier hiring the illegal workers than the legal workers why ask the government to change the law? Except that it would be the humane thing to do.

No. We should not care about these abused people. Sheesh.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[Ethan Allen Hawley]

TheUrbanMyth said:

"People whine and moan that we don't get a lot of respect here...and maybe that won't change regardless."

Interesting point. But, it raises the question: who is this 'we' you are talking about? Are you talking about only white teachers of English, or are you suddenly now talking about all foreigners in Korea?

If you are talking about all foreigners in Korea, then, in your honest and full appraisal including experience and insight from your and others' anecdotal evidence, are you really of the opinion that South East Asian people - generally - get treated with the same amount of 'respect' ... (as little as you observe that being) as the average English teacher?

"But it sure won't get any better by turning a blind eye to the law."

This kind of statement, dear fellow poster, is commonly termed a 'self-goal'.

Not that I'm keeping score or anything.

I'm just glad we can agree on something.

[jdog2050]

[RACETRAITOR]

This thread should help to show that migrant workers from poor countries are in a totally different boat (or in some cases Cadillac converted to float on water) than us.