The bereaved family members of the Vietnamese worker who died in an industrial accident will be receiving compensation matching that received by Korean workers, a migrant rights group said Sunday.
Nguyen Van Tuan, who died March 10 at a gravel processing site in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, at the age 23, will be subject to nondiscriminatory compensation in accordance with Friday’s agreement with the company that operated the factory, the Gyeonggi Migrants Equality Solidarity said. The deal also includes a formal apology and a pledge to improve safety systems to prevent a recurrence.
The migrant rights group added that the agreement was meaningful because it broke from what it described as “customary” and “discriminatory” compensation practices applied to migrant workers.
When a fatal industrial accident occurs, a company is required to compensate the bereaved family based on the income the victim was expected to earn until age 65.
For Korean workers, the calculation is based on Korean wages. For migrant workers, however, Korean wages are applied only for the remainder of their visa period, after which standard wages in their home country are used, creating a gap in compensation, the group said.
“Due to discriminatory compensation practices, migrants faced serious discrimination even after death,” an activist from Gyeonggi Migrants’ Equality Solidarity said.
“This agreement breaks from that custom, but the practice of hiring migrant workers as cheap labor and then discarding them must disappear.”
It was also found that the Ministry of Employment and Labor had failed to inspect the company before Nguyen’s death, even though it had previously been fined 100 million won ($68,000) for failing to provide proper safety measures and training for workers.
Nguyen’s family left Korea on Saturday following the agreement.
“The public concern, help and warm support shown after the immense pain my family suffered from my brother’s tragic industrial accident have been a great source of strength for us,” Nguyen Van Tu, the victim’s younger brother, said in a statement.
The older Nguyen died at about 2:40 a.m. on March 10 after he was told to inspect a malfunctioning conveyor belt alone at the gravel processing plant. He was checking underneath the belt when he became caught in the machine.
The conveyor belt did not have an emergency switch, automatic shut-off device or cover, and the two-person safety rule was not followed.
seungku99@heraldcorp.com
