CINA

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The Korean Federation of Construction Industry Trade Unions (KFCITU) issued last Thursday the following press release:

We call on the Lee Myung-bak Gov't to Stop the Repression of Vietnamese Migrant Construction Workers!

10 Vietnamese migrant workers were recently imprisoned for having demanded better treatment while working on a construction site at the Incheon New Port last year.

Hyundai Construction was the main company overseeing the construction at this site. Roughly 180 Vietnamese workers working on the site were employed by Taeheung Construction, a subcontractor contracted with Hyundai Construction. These workers were mainly responsible for iron bar work, laying concrete and plastering. They worked for 12 hours at a time on two nighttime shifts. Taeheung Construction had provided three meals a day. Last June, however, the company began deducting 8,000 won a day for two meals, seeking to increase its profits at the workers' expense.

Resenting this bad treatment, the workers began demanding improvements last July. The company, however, threatened them saying, "If you don't work, we will report you to the Ministry of Labor and have you all deported." Further angered, the workers refused to work from July 22 (Thurs.) to July 25 (Sun.) in protest against the company's attitude.

The company did nothing to meet the workers' demands. Instead it reduced the their pay, recognizing only 11 hours of work when they in fact worked for 12. In response, the workers again refused to work from January 9 (Sat.) to Jan. 10 (Sun.), 2011.

We are enraged by the fact that Taeheung Construction felt it could deducted 240,000 won a month for meals fee, when it was only paying the workers minimum wage (4,110 won/hr.).

In March and April, several months after the workers' action, the Gyeonggi Provincial police arrested and imprisoned some of the workers who were, by that time, working at other worksites. The police have plans to make more arrest related to the incident. What is more, the police and Prosecutor's Office are exaggerating the charges, claiming that small skirmishes that occurred during the action and interpersonal conflicts were actually collective acts of violence. These actions demonstrates the authorities' misguided beliefs that migrant workers should quietly follow the company's orders and that any demands they make for better treatment are by nature illegal. The authorities' actions are clearly labor repression as well as violations of human rights and international law.

The ROK Constitution's guarantee of the 3 basic labor rights (right to association, right to collective bargaining and right to strike) applies to all workers regardless of their nationality and race. In addition, both the ILO and the UN have adopted conventions on the rights of migrant workers, which protect equal treatment for all workers.

Instead of perpetrating labor repression against these migrant workers, the South Korean government should punish the company's illegal treatment and human rights violations, which include requiring workers to work excessively long hours and at night, reductions in break times and refusal of a day off once a week.

Hyundai Construction, the main company at the Incheon New Port site, has been bragging about the fact that it recently won a contract to build a Mariott Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam worth 1 billion won. This is particularly offensive arrogance, given that the company should be ashamed of its role in this incident. Hyundai Construction should making improving the conditions at its construction sites its top priority and take responsibly for the unjust imprisonment of the Vietnamese workers.

The Korean Federation of Construction Industry Trade Unions (KFCITU) will fight with other labor, migrants, and human rights organizations to win justice for these Vietnamese migrant workers, who have been the targets of repression and unjust imprisonment. And, we will continue to struggle against the repression of construction workers around the world.

June 2, 2011

Korean Federation of Construction Industry Trade Unions (KFCITU)
Affiliate of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU)

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