In December last year, a Cambodian migrant worker in her 30s was found dead inside a greenhouse that was being used as accommodation for foreign workers at a farm in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province. The death shed light on the poor working and housing conditions of migrant workers here.
A year has passed, but foreign employees in the agricultural sector still face long working hours despite government measures to improve labor conditions.
To protect their rights, the South Gyeongsang Province Branch of the Korea Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU) and 10 human rights organizations launched the “119 for Cambodian migrant workers” project in September. The KMWU branch joined the project as part of its commitment to solidarity with migrant workers.
The initiative is aimed at providing nationwide administrative, legal and educational support for Cambodian migrant workers who face difficulties in reporting unfair labor practices.
There are over 180,000 migrant workers in Korea, and Cambodians form the largest group in the agricultural sector, according to Kim Yi-chan, the head of People of Earth Station, a human rights organization supporting migrant workers that also provides counseling for the project.
“Unlike the manufacturing industry, the agricultural sector is run by small businesses or farms of less than five people, to which the Labor Standards Act is rarely applied, regarding workers’ payment and time off. Also, the workers have difficulty accessing umbrella unions, which could provide them with systemic support,” Kim told The Korea Times.
Kim said the language barrier makes it difficult for most migrant workers who come for counseling to even pronounce their Korean employer’s name or understand the street address system, which is necessary for the group to file petitions or lawsuits on behalf of the workers.
“So we receive pictures of road signs and locations from them via social media,” Kim said.
Since its launch in September, the activists on Kim’s team have offered counseling in 128 cases brought up by Cambodian workers in the country and filed lawsuits in 50 of them with the help of lawyers participating in the project.
Lawmakers and civic group members hold a forum on Cambodian agricultural migrant workers' labor and health conditions at the National Assembly, Seoul, Dec. 8. / Courtesy of Coalition for Migrant Equality
On Dec. 8, the members of the “119 for Cambodian migrant workers” as well as progressive minor opposition Justice Party lawmaker Kang Eun-mee and independent lawmaker Yoon Mee-Hyang held a forum at the National Assembly and revealed details of the labor and health conditions faced by the Cambodian workers.
A survey conducted from August to October by the Laborer Health Center, one of the groups participating in the project, through interviews with 63 Cambodians, showed they were suffering from long working hours and health problems including mental illnesses.
The survey showed 58.7 percent of them worked more than 10 hours a day.
Some 39 percent said they worked five days a week, while 29.5 percent said they rarely have even a single day off a week. In the agricultural sector, 54.8 percent said they work for 6.1 days a week on average. Over 55 percent of the respondents said they worked even when they were sick, and the ratio was at 75.8 percent among agricultural workers.
The respondents’ monthly payment was 1.89 million won, but 49.2 percent were receiving less than the minimum wage set by the government.
The surveyed Cambodian workers also experience serious mental and physical health problems.
About 40 percent of them were categorized as likely to suffer from depression, although the ratio was much higher among agricultural workers at 63.6 percent.
“Many Cambodian workers who come for counseling have symptoms of musculoskeletal, urinal and gynecological diseases. This is because they cannot take enough rest while at work, even without time to go to the toilet,” Kim said.
“Foreign workers in the agricultural sector provide labor that is closely connected to our everyday lives. However, their working conditions remain harsh, as it did for workers in gold and coal mines in the past,” he added.
Cho Eun-Seung, the head of the KMWU branch’s social solidary team, said, “They also experience skin diseases, due to long-term exposure to toxic substances in agricultural chemicals without appropriate protective equipment. The 911 team has been providing them with such equipment to protect themselves from dangerous chemicals.”
Cho noted that the Assembly and relevant government bodies need to revise related laws and policies to improve the Cambodians’ working conditions. “We hope that people will join in solidarity with the migrant workers.”
