hankyoreh

A Bangladeshi couple who has been working at a kitchenware factory in Incheon after entering the nation on tourist visas has not received their wages for the last four months, amounting to 9.5 million won (US$9,900) in back pay. The head of the company has put them under what amounts to physical detention, by holding their overdue wages as a form of ransom.

The couple chose to visit the Korea Migrant Workers’ Human Rights Center, a civic organization, in mid-January. The organization met with the president of the company, but he presented a falsified payroll statement saying that he had already paid about 80 percent of their wages, with only 1.3 million won remaining to be paid. The couple provided documentation proving he was lying. Only then did he give them their overdue wages.

For migrant workers, wages are a means of survival, not only for themselves but often for the family members in their home countries to whom they remit money. They are willing to do difficult, dangerous work and to suffer all manner of hardship in order to make a better life for themselves. However, these migrant laborers habitually fall victim to employers witholding wages.

According to a survey performed by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea in 2002, one out of two migrant workers has had wages overdue. Illegal immigrants are the main target of overdue wages because companies can hold the workers’ illegal status over their heads.

A 2005 survey conducted by Rep. Dan Byung-ho of the opposition Democratic Labor Party (DLP) showed that more than half of the migrant workers who have suffered from overdue wages were working illegally. The average period of overdue wages was 2.74 months and the average amount of wages withheld was nearly 2.4 million won.

These workers’ protests are often met with refutation and even threats. Kim Hui-seon, an official of a center supporting migrant workers, said, "Owners of the companies think that illegal foreigners won’t be able to take legal action. They make those illegal workers quit after delaying wage payment for months or threatening to report them to the authorities."

Migrant workers have very few means to appeal the situation. They can appeal to the Ministry of Labor for violating the Labor Standards Act, but this puts them under danger of forced deportation. One Mongolian working in Korea illegally visited a regional labor office to report the company for not paying him a severance allowance of 6 million won on January 2, but he was merely taken to an immigration detention center. He was slated to be deported without his pay, but was fortunately able to have his problems resolved with the help of a civic organization.

If the Ministry of Labor cannot resolve the matter, workers can take the problem to court. However, this process is understandably extremely difficult. First the worker must secure proper legal aid depending on what he or she is able to pay, and the overall process often stretches much longer than expected.

Ahn Geon-su, head of a civic group for foreign workers, said, "In order for the ministry to fix the overdue wage problem regarding illegal workers, the government should first pay workers the money and resolve the matter with the companies later."

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]