Migrant workers in South Korea demand more rights



Migrant workers in South Korea stage a protest in August. Activists are demanding an expansion of their rights and filed a constitutional appeal on Wednesday. File Photo by Yonhap/EPA-EFE

March 18 (UPI) -- Migrant workers in South Korea are calling for new labor rights, including an expanded right to transfer to another place of employment on their work visas.

Migrants Joint Action, a coalition of workers' rights groups, said Wednesday during a press conference outside South Korea's constitutional court that foreign workers' rights in Korea are too restrictive. They likened their work conditions to those of "forced labor," South Korean news service News 1 reported.

The group said five migrant workers who remained unidentified have filed a constitutional appeal, claiming South Korea's employment permit system violates basic rights guaranteed by the nation's constitution.

South Korea passed a law in 2004 guaranteeing the protection of foreign workers, who are, by law, guaranteed the same rights to wages and work benefits as South Korean citizens. Migrants Joint Action said Wednesday the government has favored South Korean citizens. Migrant workers are not allowed to change workplaces as often in order to "protect domestic workers," the group said.

The activists also said South Korean work visa laws force migrant workers to be bound by non-compete agreements and contracts. Workers who seek to transfer to another workplace must prove they are resigning for reasons beyond their area of responsibility. Those who leave their current employer eventually become undocumented, activists said.

Park Young-ah, a lawyer representing the workers, said the group has a "right to be free from forced labor."

"We are filing a constitutional appeal because the conditions of employment violate the law," Park said.

RELATED Hundreds of undocumented migrants leaving South Korea

One plaintiff, a Mongolian national who declined to be identified, said he was ordered to drive a forklift although he did not have a license, local paper Kyunghyang Shinmun reported.

When the plaintiff, who began working in Korea in December 2018, refused to drive the vehicle, his boss reportedly said he would send him back to Mongolia, according to the report.

In 2011, South Korea's constitutional court limited the number of work transfers for migrant workers to three workplaces per employment visa. Workers need more rights, however, activists said Wednesday.