Friday, May 23, 2008
Solidarity with Migrant Trade Union
TEA-KOR urges an to repression against Migrant Trade Union (MTU) leaders and all migrant workers in South Korea.
TEA-KOR Teachers of English Abroad in Korea
Message of Solidarity (updated May 23, 2008)
Re: Crackdown and repression against the Migrant Trade Union leaders
TEA-KOR condemns the crackdown and repression against the Migrant Trade Union. MTU President Kajiman, Vice President Raju and General Secretary Masum were arrested on the morning of November 27, 2007 and subsequently deported. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and supporters from the labor movement and civil society carried out a 99-day sit-in protest calling for an end to the oppression against migrants and migrant organizing. They rebuilt MTU at the same time. On April 6, MTU elected a new leadership.
On May 2, 2008, President Torna Limbu and the vice general secretary were walking out of the MTU office when they were suddenly confronted by 10 to 15 immigration officers who were waiting hidden around the corner. The officers surrounded the president and without presenting a detention order violently forced him into a van waiting nearby. When the vice general secretary attempted to protest he was physically restrained by officers who shouted at him not to interfere with public affairs. Soon after, at around 9:00pm the same night, union officers become unable to contact MTU Vice President Abdus Sabur. Torna Limbu and Abdus Sabur were deported on May 15 while a Human Rights Commission complaint that was filed should have resulted in the suspension of the orders against them.
The government of Lee Myung-Bak, inaugurated in February and backed by the majority in the new national assembly, has announced it is stepping up the crackdown. It is doing so by introducing quotas that aim at arresting or detaining 3,000 suspected illegal workers a month. It expects to deport 9,000 workers throughout 2008.
The crackdown can easily be understood as a reaction to the sagging national economy. The won's value sank while the cost of living and unemployment climbed this year, after billions of US dollars worth of capital fled the country in 2007.
The reactionary government is inflaming discrimination and criminalizing foreign labour after its industries have enjoyed the massive profits that the exploitation of foreign cheap labour combined with deregulation of industry have brought South Korea's elite and corporations (domestic and foreign).
TEA-KOR supports the demands of the MTU and its petition against the crackdown. They follow here.
Demands: 1. Stop the repression against MTU and release President Torna Limbu and Vice President Abdus Sabur immediately! 2. In the name of the right to freedom of association of all workers, recognize MTU's legal union status! 3. Stop the crackdown against legalize all undocumented migrant workers!
Sign the Petition at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/StopMigrantRepression/
In the experience of many foreign teachers living and working in South Korea, foreign workers are exploited as a source of cheap labor especially since their status as foreigners makes them more vulnerable. TEA-KOR therefore shares the desire to protect foreign workers and raise their employment and living standards.
TEA-KOR works against discrimination and abuse against foreign workers. These problems are extreme in many cases.
Foreign teachers are also harassed and threatened by the authorities for attempting to organize support and call attention to their issues. TEA-KOR opposed the criminalization of foreign workers, legal and illegal.
Illegal employees live and work long term in South Korea because many employers invite them and the government allows it to happen, even in the front lines of immigration services. In the opinion of TEA-KOR, the conditions of all workers, Korean and foreign should be improved and employers should be regulated and monitored. The government should defend the inalienable rights of all and condemn the abuse and discrimination against foreign workers.
Dedicated and steadfast international solidarity is needed to defend the rights of workers and see change the benefits workers unfold.
In solidarity,
TEA-KOR