The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) held the National Migrant Workers Rally in front of the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Administration today (the 13th) and urged the government to guarantee the freedom to change workplaces and establish measures to eliminate discrimination against migrant workers.

KCTU President Yang Kyung-soo said in his opening address, "What increases year by year is not the rights of migrant workers, but only the number of victims sacrificed to industrial accidents." He criticized, "If the government had poured even a fraction of the attention it gives to mega-special zones into migrant workers, our slogans today would have been different."

He went on to emphasize, "Migrant workers are not competitors over jobs, but comrades who must protect workplace safety together and overcome times of transition together."

Migrant Trade Union President Udaya Rai stated, "Migrant workers are subjected to low wages and high-intensity labor in poor and hazardous workplaces," demanding the implementation of a work permit system that guarantees the freedom to change workplaces, human rights, and labor rights.

The KCTU criticized that more than a year has passed since the president ordered the establishment of measures against discrimination toward migrant workers, yet no fundamental solutions have been produced.

In addition, the union condemned discriminatory treatment by corporations, such as the attempt by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries last May to reorganize its migrant worker wage system—which faced strong backlash due to drops in base salary, mandatory overtime, and the introduction of a performance-based differential wage system.

After completing struggle speeches and reading a resolution, the KCTU marched from the Seoul Labor Administration to the front of Cheong Wa Dae Sarangchae.

(Photo: Yonhap News)