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Labor unions in Korea and the Philippines jointly expressed concerns, Thursday, over an upcoming pilot project that will bring caregivers from the Southeast Asian country to Seoul. They also highlighted fears about the existing Seasonal Worker Program (SWP), which permits Korean local governments to invite temporary workers from overseas.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of Korea's two umbrella unions, and four labor unions based in the Philippines — the Federation of the Free Workers, the KMU, the SENTRO and the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines — said that both programs fail to adequately ensure the protection and welfare of migrant workers. They emphasized that several critical issues must be addressed to prevent exploitation and discrimination.

For the pilot project, which aims to assign 100 caregivers from the Philippines to start working in households in Seoul as early as September, the five labor groups emphasized that the standard contract must clearly define the terms, conditions of work and all rights of migrant workers. They highlighted existing confusion regarding the roles of these workers, stressing the importance of clarity in the contract.

“The Korean government expects workers to perform both caregiving and domestic work, while the Philippine government insists their role is strictly limited to caregiving,” they said in a joint statement written in English.

“The program must be clearly defined as caregiving only, and this must be resolved before the program is formally operationalized.”

They also pointed to the accommodation issue, as the Korean government vowed to offer dormitories to these 100 care workers.

They called for regular inspections of housing facilities by the respective governments, together with trade union representatives, to ensure they meet international housing standards.

They said trade unions from the two nations should participate in the design and conduct of pre-departure and post-arrival seminars for these care workers to ensure that they are well-informed about their rights and responsibilities.

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Regarding the SWP, which permits the hiring of foreign workers for short periods to address labor shortages during busy farming and fishing seasons in Korea, the five groups said the program has often led to the exploitation of migrant workers and violations of human and labor rights due to structural flaws.

They pointed out that one of the major problems stems from the system being operated based on agreements between local governments rather than central governments. This setup, they argued, has created significant opportunities for brokers to intervene in the process.

“Brokers mediate the signing of agreements between local governments, collect excessive fees from workers by intervening in the recruitment process and take wages from workers while they work after arriving in Korea,” they said in another joint statement.

They added that SWP does not provide sufficient language and rights education before and after the entry of seasonal workers.

“The program should be operated based on memoranda of understanding between central governments, not between local governments,” they said.

“The Ministry of Employment and Labor, not the Ministry of Justice, should take charge of the SWP, so that labor inspection and labor rights protection measures can be implemented.”