One woman from Sichuan province who has worked at the factory for more than two years said in mid-June she hadn't been paid since April. Mrs. Kim didn't answer several requests for a response to the allegations of unpaid back wages. She did say, however, that basic monthly pay is 380 yuan, with up to five hours of overtime daily that earns time and a half. Of course I've thought about going home. I think about it every minute.
Similar complaints emerge around the globe.
In Vietnam, the official media has reported several allegations of ill-treatment, including one in which a young Korean supervisor had to apologize after she hit 15 employees, prompting a strike. Mr. Binh, the Ministry of Labor official, says most disputes are over low wages, long working hours and poor working conditions. In Argentina, Koreans have become the primary owners of small textile factories, which normally operate underground and pay neither taxes nor social security for their workers. Two Korean businessmen were arrested in January after a raid by police on their clandestine textile factory in a Buenos Aires warehouse. Another Korean businessman was arrested in Argentina three years ago on charges of reducing to servitude 10 Brazilian minors who were prevented from leaving his textile shop under threats of physical violence, according to local media reports.