on July 15 and 30, two engineering accidents occurred in Seoul, South Korea, respectively, resulting in the death of five Chinese workers and serious injury of one Chinese worker
in recent years, Chinese overseas workers have repeatedly lost their souls in other countries, Chinese shellfish pickers have been killed in mokhm Bay, UK, Chinese workers have been attacked and killed in Afghanistan, illegal gold miners dream of Ghana… At present, there are 6.62 million Chinese working in foreign countries through legal channels, not to mention “black workers”. They go for the simple purpose of making money, but they encounter the dilemma of “it is difficult to protect their lives and rights”
incidents
nearly 600000 Chinese workers in South Korea are injured and killed from time to time
“why Chinese again?” As soon as the news about the accident of the panghua bridge came out, it caused a big stir on the 1nternet. Netizens expressed their sympathy and sigh for Chinese overseas workers
the casualties of Chinese workers in South Korea occur in real time, but the two recent accidents are municipal projects in Seoul, so they have a great impact< According to Guo Zaishuo, President of the Korean immigrant compatriots Development Research 1nstitute, there are two reasons for the high number of Chinese casualties in recent accidents: first, the large number of workers. 500000 to 600000 Chinese workers account for the majority of South Korean foreign workers< Second, many people are engaged in dangerous jobs. Most Chinese workers can only find jobs that South Koreans are reluctant to do. These jobs generally do not require professional skills, qualifications, education and foreign language skills in South Korea, construction workers are one of the hardest jobs, but their income is relatively higher. Deducting rent, meals and other daily expenses, a construction worker can save 2 million won a month, equivalent to nearly 12000 yuan. 1n order to earn money, many Chinese are willing to leave their hometown to work abroad even if they are tired and dirty depth 6.62 million legal overseas gold “black labor” is hard to count the reporter learned from the Department of foreign investment and economic cooperation of the Ministry of commerce that as of the end of 2012, China’s foreign labor cooperation had sent 6.39 million workers of all kinds. 1n the first half of 2013, there were 226000 people, totaling nearly 6.62 million the above is the number of workers exported through legal channels, while it is difficult to count the “black workers” who go out through snakeheads, black intermediaries and other means. 1t is such a huge group, but it seems to have become a forgotten “invisible person”< Every Chinese overseas worker has a lot of hardships, and the most serious problems are personal injury and accident risk. For example, in Japan and South Korea, some local enterprises use the "postgraduate system" to introduce illegal foreign labor in disguise, and implement cruel oppression and servitude in Russia, Chinese foreign workers are often targeted by local skinheads and even discriminated against by the police. 1n 2011, Russian media once said that the treatment of Chinese workers was “worse than dogs”. A video uploaded by a local worker shows that a group of Chinese workers were beaten by security guards at the construction site. The beaters not only used fists and feet, but also used batons in Africa, Chinese foreign workers sometimes face the threat of kidnapping and war. 1n the Niger Delta, Chinese oil workers have been kidnapped many times; 1n the mining areas of central and eastern Africa, “fear” is a common sentiment of Chinese workers the reason is that Chinese products and labor have an impact on the local employment market, causing social dissatisfaction in the host country. Once this dissatisfaction is instigated and stimulated by racists, it may lead to violent conflicts in the “extraordinary areas” with fierce ethnic conflicts, many multinational companies prefer to give up projects rather than take risks, while some Chinese enterprises are desperate to “abandon others” and ignore the personal safety of Chinese workers rights protection vacuum income welfare listen to destiny overseas workers have the most simple purpose: to earn money. However, overseas employers deliberately deduct or default wages almost without exception, intermediary or labor service companies collect “deposit” from foreign workers, the amount of which has increased from 20000 to 30000 yuan, and it has gone up all the way to nearly 100000 yuan. 1n order to prevent these workers from “disobeying management” after going abroad, the intermediary and labor service companies either charge in advance or forcibly deduct from their wages. 1n this way, once the overseas employers owe wages, the intermediary and labor service companies will have no loss, but the foreign workers will have a huge loss they are not afraid of the hard work. What bothers them most is that their labor rights and interests are not protected. 1n terms of the minimum wage, medical care, vacation, welfare and so on, they all depend on the “conscience” of their employers. 1n the event of illness, work-related injury, or labor disputes, overseas workers, especially “black workers”, are often in a very helpless situation viewpoint overseas employers and labor service companies can be held accountable how to protect the personal safety and labor rights of Chinese workers overseas? The reporter interviewed Li Lingyun, an expert in labor law and an associate professor of East China University of political science and law she said that in recent years, China’s foreign labor cooperation has become more and more, and the infringement of labor rights and interests has also increased. 1n 2012, the state issued the regulations on the administration of foreign labor cooperation, which clearly stipulates “who is responsible and what is responsible” for the infringement of labor rights and interests as far as the protection of labor rights and interests is concerned, the contract between foreign employers and workers will stipulate such issues as working hours, working place, working conditions, labor remuneration, social insurance, whether there is economic compensation after the termination of the contract, etc. “if there is an accident, the workers should find the foreign employers who have labor relations.” if the foreign employer refuses to make compensation, or the labor is still unable to make up for the loss by exhausting legal means, they can seek compensation from the domestic and foreign labor cooperation company when both parties refuse to pay compensation, the regulations specially set up a reserve fund system, which is paid by domestic companies engaged in foreign labor cooperation. Once both parties shirk responsibility, qualified workers can get the reserve fund she pointed out that the government should also form an institutional contingency plan, instead of discussing it on a case by case basis as for the “black workers”, she thinks that the law does not allow them to work abroad in the name of visiting relatives, traveling and studying, and the group itself has no legal status, so the law cannot cover them it is difficult for Chinese workers to enjoy equal pay for equal work recently, in order to boost the employment rate, some European countries put forward the slogan of “no matter what nationality, as long as you provide labor of equal value, you should get equal pay”, but Professor Li said that the slogan will not benefit Chinese workers “the degree of European integration is relatively high. 1t is very natural for them to be born and raised in one country and then work in another country. 1n addition, Europe has established a coordination mechanism on social security, so that when people change their place of work, the standard of social security will not be lowered. But it is obviously impossible for Chinese workers to enjoy the same system – the reason why the other party provides these jobs to the Chinese is precisely because the Chinese can make considerable achievements at a relatively low cost. “