ID :
33858
Thu, 12/04/2008 - 12:25
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/33858
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Lee vows preferential treatment of foreign farm workers
By Yoo Cheong-mo
SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday instructed his Cabinet to give special favors to foreign migrant workers hired by South Korean farmers to help ease the acute labor shortage in Korean rural communities.
Meeting with local farmers at the Garak Market in downtown Seoul, Lee ordered
that foreign manual workers employed by domestic farms and manufacturing plants
be selectively treated through the revision of foreign labor laws.
Lee made the remarks after local farmers complained about difficulties in
recruiting foreign labor during busy farming seasons, as well as indiscriminate
police crackdowns on illegal foreign workers hired by them.
"Foreign workers working at farms and plants should not be treated the same way.
A strict application of the foreign labor law could also put enormous financial
burdens on local farmers," Lee said, instructing the agriculture minister to
consider its selective enforcement through consultations with the labor and
justice ministers.
"The circumstances in the rural community have rather worsened. This shows the
government's agricultural policies have been unrealistic. From now on, I'll pay
more attention. Waste of labor expenses should be addressed. (Foreign farm
workers) should be entrusted to the farmers," said the president.
Lee visited Garak Market, the nation's biggest agro-fisheries wholesale market,
to take a first-hand look at consumer prices and business difficulties faced by
market retailers and farmers.
A cabbage farmer meeting with the president complained that frequent police
crackdowns on illegal foreign workers significantly hinders his farm operations,
noting foreign workers now account for 70 percent of his farm labor.
Another farmer also said exchanges of foreign labor among local farms during peak
season is also illegal under the current foreign labor law.
"I employ a lot of foreign workers and pay each of them 870,000 won (US$600) a
month. Their labor offered after 7 p.m. costs me additional overtime payment,"
said the farmer.
SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday instructed his Cabinet to give special favors to foreign migrant workers hired by South Korean farmers to help ease the acute labor shortage in Korean rural communities.
Meeting with local farmers at the Garak Market in downtown Seoul, Lee ordered
that foreign manual workers employed by domestic farms and manufacturing plants
be selectively treated through the revision of foreign labor laws.
Lee made the remarks after local farmers complained about difficulties in
recruiting foreign labor during busy farming seasons, as well as indiscriminate
police crackdowns on illegal foreign workers hired by them.
"Foreign workers working at farms and plants should not be treated the same way.
A strict application of the foreign labor law could also put enormous financial
burdens on local farmers," Lee said, instructing the agriculture minister to
consider its selective enforcement through consultations with the labor and
justice ministers.
"The circumstances in the rural community have rather worsened. This shows the
government's agricultural policies have been unrealistic. From now on, I'll pay
more attention. Waste of labor expenses should be addressed. (Foreign farm
workers) should be entrusted to the farmers," said the president.
Lee visited Garak Market, the nation's biggest agro-fisheries wholesale market,
to take a first-hand look at consumer prices and business difficulties faced by
market retailers and farmers.
A cabbage farmer meeting with the president complained that frequent police
crackdowns on illegal foreign workers significantly hinders his farm operations,
noting foreign workers now account for 70 percent of his farm labor.
Another farmer also said exchanges of foreign labor among local farms during peak
season is also illegal under the current foreign labor law.
"I employ a lot of foreign workers and pay each of them 870,000 won (US$600) a
month. Their labor offered after 7 p.m. costs me additional overtime payment,"
said the farmer.
