Migrant women call for better working conditions

Migrant women and local activists demand the government provide better working conditions to migrant women at the National Human Rights Commission of Korea in central Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Women Migrants Human Rights Center of Korea

By Lee Hyo-jin

Purevsuren Maingbayar, 38, a marriage migrant from Mongolia, is a bilingual tutor at a public education institution with nine years of work experience. But her employment status remains unstable as it is based on short-term contracts each lasting less than 10 months.

She recently signed a six-month contract with less than 14 working hours per week, which means she will not be eligible for retirement or bonus payments.

Another marriage migrant, who has worked as a Korean-Chinese interpreter in a state-run multicultural family support center for 10 years, said that she is still being paid minimum wage, whereas her Korean colleagues are given steady pay raises and chances for promotion.

The two women are among many migrant women employed in government-run facilities who have experienced unfair treatment in wage and promotion opportunities, according to the Women Migrants Human Rights Center of Korea.

The center, on behalf of such migrant women, filed a petition to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) on Wednesday and held a press conference demanding the government eliminate employment discrimination and provide equal treatment.

“Although our jobs as tutors, counselors and interpreters demand a high level of professional skills, our wage level remains the lowest. And some governmental organizations have even expediently reduced working hours to avoid raising salaries,” said a migrant woman at the press conference.

She added that some of them are experiencing unfair treatment due to different cultural backgrounds.

“My colleague, a marriage migrant, could not visit her parents for New Year holidays because her superior didn't allow annual leave saying that 'she goes to her home country too often, not trying to adapt to Korean culture.'”

They demanded the government eliminate short-term contracts lasting less than a year, and set up a HR manual detailing management of foreign employees.

Korean nationals working in multicultural family support centers, for example, are guaranteed a yearly pay raise and chances for promotion based on their consecutive years of employment. But the manual does not apply to foreign nationals, said an official at the Women Migrants Human Rights Center of Korea, citing data from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

The center said employees in other organizations such as 1345 call center under the Ministry of Justice are also facing similar issues, adding that they will disclose a detailed report of workplace discrimination against foreign workers in December based on a survey of 300 female immigrants.