CINA

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Monday's (bourgeois) Korea Times wrote that...

The government will allow migrant workers, most likely from June this year, to change their workplaces without restrictions if they experienced discrimination at work or employers violated labor laws...

The bill will take effect five months after promulgation which is expected to take place within days...

Migrant workers have been permitted to change their workplaces only up to three times during their first-three year work permit here and twice more if they extend their visa for another two years.

This left room for employers to infringe on the rights of migrant workers, who are vulnerable to salary gouging, harassment and overtime work without due financial compensation.

Once the new legislation enters into force, they will be able to switch their jobs as much as they need if their employer breaches regulations to be set by the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL).

A considerable number of foreigners have been expelled from the country as a result of circumstances where they had no choice but to walk out of their workplaces...

The revision bill states that migrant workers can switch jobs without any penalty or disadvantage if "the employer breached work conditions or if migrant workers cannot continue to work in their workplace due to reasons that they are not responsible for."

The move came amid pro-immigrant activists’ growing demand to scrap the regulation that infringes upon the freedom of job choice and the general pursuit of freedom guaranteed in the Constitution...

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2012/01/116_102082.html

Oops~ After almost ten years of struggle by migrant organizations, solidarity groups and trade unions, incl. MTU/KCTU, against the terrible EPS(at least its worst paragraphs) the S. Korean legislative is making - possibly(??) - a first step forward...
But of course - in reality - there's is a huge gap between a bill, passing the Nat'l Assembly and a lawful process!!

Comrade Michel, MTU's chairperson comments the approved bill as follows:

Just makes it easier to cover up all of the existing exploitative conditions. Also makes it easier for the migrants to be tied down to their employers...

It was initially sold as a law to make it possible for migrants to stay longer than 4 years 10 months but the condition is for the migrant to stay with only one employer, since a lot of the employers are also in need of a stable workforce.

But there is a lot more to be done since these laws do not really protect the working conditions of the migrants.

Another thing, it remains difficult for migrant workers to prove these violations because it might take them longer to prove those violations which might mean they would be unemployed longer to be able to have their workplace change not counted.

Sadly, laws on paper might look good than not having laws at all... but practice and application is the real gauge if conditions are good or not.