Illustrative image. (Photo: VNA)Seoul (VNA) – A seminar aimed at improving theeffectiveness of management activities and supporting labourers in the fishing industry was organised by the Labour Management Board and the Vietnamese Embassy inthe Republic of Korea (RoK) on November 29.
Attending the seminar were representatives of the VietnameseEmbassy in the RoK, the Labour ManagementBoard (LMB) as well as those of the Korea Fisheries Association, businesses and the Korea Support Centre forForeign Workers.
Accordingto Ta Thi Thanh Thuy, head of the LMB, currently, there are 17 Vietnameseenterprises engaged in providing crew members for fishing boats in RoK. Thetotal number of Vietnamese labourers working in the RoK under E-10 visa is 8,602.
Vietnamesecrew members are highly appreciated by RoK ship owners for their skills andability. However, enterprises believed that the seafarer labour market is facingstrong competition from other countries. Many ship owners are ready to accept thosefrom some countries due to the poor discipline of Vietnamese crew members.
Limitationsof language are also a reason for differences in the work and life of the crewmembers.
Participantsat the seminar pointed out that the situation of workers in the fishingindustry breaking their employment contracts to work illegally needs to be solved.It is blamed on a big gap between the income of contract workers and illegal ones.
Accordingto RoK’s C&P Company, it is very important to coordinate with Vietnamesecompanies in the recruitment process. Seafarershave not been properly given orientations about the characteristics of eachprofession operating at sea, so they cannot choose the one that is suitable for their physical strength,leading to dissatisfaction after entering the country, it said,suggesting that crew members should beequipped with the essential knowledge to avoid any contradiction that might arisebetween ship owners and crew members.
KimJae Man from Korea Fisheries Association proposed that relevant Vietnamese agency, as well as labour supply enterprises, strengthen orientation education for workers to reduce the rate of illegal labourers./.
