Filipino Workers Tell of Discrimination in Korea

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When Elmer De Vera found out last month that his employer had given pay raises to his Korean colleagues despite freezing his pay for the past four years, he blamed discrimination against his nationality. 

“They (employers) don’t follow rules. I found it out only last month when I compared my salary slip with my coworkers. My salary has been the same for the past four years,” said the Filipino employee at a local cement company. He is scheduled to leave Korea in June as his visa expires.

De Vera was among the several Filipino workers that The Korea Herald interviewed Sunday at a help center for foreign workers in Hyehwa-dong, Seoul.

They said many of their compatriots are vulnerable to discrimination by their Korean employers here, despite years of efforts by the Korean government to provide legal support to foreign migrant workers and equal social insurance benefits under the Employment Permit System since 2004.

As of last year, Korea employed more than 278,000 foreign workers from 15 countries under the EPS program, including 24,000 from the Philippines.

Continue reading at Korea Herald