Korea:
Supreme Court Affirms Right to Unionise for Undocumented Migrants
Brussels,
25 June 2015 (ITUC OnLine): In a landmark decision, Korea’s Supreme Court
has now ruled that undocumented migrant workers have the right to unionise,
eight years after the migrant workers’ trade union MTU first launched its legal
action. The government refused to register the MTU and engaged in a targeted
crackdown by arresting and deporting its leaders. The Court’s ruling that these
workers are included in the scope of the Trade Union and Labour Relations
Adjustment Act is a major victory against the staunchly anti-union government.
Udaya Rai,
President of the MTU said, “We, the migrant workers, have the right to form a
union. It took no less than eight years for the litigation because the
government didn’t want to recognise our fundamental right. Today we found that
we can achieve what we want when we are united and fight together. On this
occasion, we will organise more migrant workers regardless of their status into
our union and continue our struggle for labour rights for all migrant
workers! I appreciate all the support and solidarity for the MTU”.
The Korean
government’s refusal to recognise the right of migrant workers to organise
unions was criticised by the International Labour Organization’s Committee on
Freedom of Association numerous times, most recently in March 2015.
In reaching
its decision, the Court reviewed relevant legislation from a wide range of
other countries, and found that the right to organise for undocumented migrants
is the international standard. The Court also heard that the number of
undocumented migrants in the country, largely those whose residence permits had
expired, was around 210,000 in 2014.
Sharan
Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, said, “This judgement clears up one of many
breaches of international labour standards in Korean law and practice. It
is an important victory for some of the most vulnerable and exploited workers
who will now be allowed to organise to protect their rights at work and improve
their lives.”
The ITUC
represents 176 million workers in 162 countries and territories and has 328
national affiliates.
Follow us
on the web: http://www.ituc-csi.org
and http://www.youtube.com/ITUCCSI