To commemorate the 18th anniversary of the implementation of the Employment Permit System, a rally was held in downtown Seoul to urge migrant workers to guarantee their rights.
About 400 members of the National Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), migrant labor unions, and migrant workers’ equality solidarity held an event called ‘Migrant Workers Action Day’ at Seoul Station Plaza on the 21st and urged the government to expand employment of migrant workers and guarantee their labor rights.
They criticized, “As the labor shortage in the manufacturing industry and rural areas worsens following Corona 19, there are many voices calling for the employment of migrant workers, but the government is not discussing long-term and fundamental measures for migrant workers.”
“There is only a manpower supply policy to increase the quota for migrant workers, employment sectors, seasonal workers, and create specialized visas for depopulated areas, but there is no plan on how to guarantee fair wages for labor, treat people like human beings, and guarantee rights,” he said. did.
He also called for a labor permit system that guarantees the freedom of movement of migrant workers and grants workers, not employers, the right to work in Korea.
Workers from Nepal, Cambodia, and Bangladesh also attended the rally and read the remarks in person.
One migrant worker said, “The problem persists, such as the inability to change workplaces freely. I want a system that promotes equality, job security, just and humane treatment and working conditions.”
Discussion on the Employment Permit System, in which the government issues work visas to foreign workers at the request of an employer, began in 1995 and was implemented on August 17, 2004.
/yunhap news
