Migrant workers' union

Migrant workers' union

The first labor union of migrant workers was launched this
week by some 90 employees of small firms in the capital city area
mostly from Southeast Asia. It is a natural development as the
government, under the work permit system implemented last August,
recognizes the basic labor rights of foreign workers.

The first and foremost concern of foreign workers is to stay
here for as long as they want. However, the work permit system
allows a maximum of three years and it does not guarantee the
reduction of the number of foreign workers overstaying their visa
period. Ever since foreign laborers began to rush in here in the
early 1990s, the absurdities of visa violations by migrant
workers and the abuse of them by their employers have continued.

The reality is that the Korean industry needs foreign manpower
but it is also important to maintain an orderly immigration
system.

Once it has been launched, we hope that the foreign workers'
organization will perform its proper mission of seeking to
improve the working conditions of migrant laborers and exposing
and correcting their sufferings at the hands of bad employers.
-- The Korea Herald, Seoul