Tension escalating over graded minimum wage for migrants

By Kim Jae-heun

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are at odds with labor circles over establishing different rates of the minimum wage for migrant workers here.

Citing their poor job performance and lack of communication skills, SMEs insist foreign workers undergo two years of training before being paid their full salary.

However, domestic and foreign workers are rejecting it, denouncing it as a “Racist request.” The brouhaha came as the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (K-BIZ) asked the Environment and Labor Committee of the National Assembly, last month, to introduce a separate minimum wage for migrant workers.

According to the K-BIZ proposal by Chairman Park Sung-taek, they should be paid 80 percent of the minimum wage in the first year and 90 percent the following year.

The federation claims it takes time for foreigners to adapt to life in Korea and be as productive as their local counterparts at work.

“The productivity of foreign workers only reaches up to 87.5 percent of that of local workers,” said a federation official, based on its own survey.

The amendment of the Minimum Wages Act will only affect foreigners in simple labor sectors or those who have just started working in the country less than two years ago, if it passes the National Assembly.

The Assembly committee chairman, Rep. Kim Hack-yong of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), accepted the proposal, tabling a bill to adjust the minimum wage for migrant workers. LKP lawmakers Reps. Park Dae-chul and Um Yong-soo also submitted similar bills.

“Many foreigners work there in industries like agricultural and dairy and the increase in labor costs due to the new minimum wage will bring economic burden there. We need to adjust the minimum wage realistically for foreigners and adopt the plan rationally,” Park said.

On the other hand, the labor sector and foreigners held a press conference, Thursday, protesting the proposed revision.

“It is a racist request to apply the minimum wage differently to immigrant workers,” a Korean Confederation of Trade Union (KCTU) official said. “It is a violation of the Labor Standard Law, which prevents discrimination in working conditions upon the worker’s nationality, religion and social status.” The KCTU, one of the nation’s two labor umbrella group, also added that if the National Assembly passes the amendment, it will aggravate the domestic working environment across the nation.

“If the amendment passes and the number of laborers working in poor conditions increase, it will become a pressure in worsening the working environment in all labor sectors. One exception can lead to another exception,” the federation official said.

In 2018, the number of immigrant workers with work visas exceeded 1 million. Illegal immigrants are estimated at over 300,000 of the nearly 1.3 million foreign workers here in total.