Some ten foreign workers at an apartment construction site in Kwangju City attacked four local workers who are the members of the construction workers' union. The incident happened on May 8 due to a quarrel over the construction materials and they had run away from the incident scene before the police arrived.

Although the names and mobile phone numbers of these foreign workers were found on the daily work report, they did not write down the contact addresses and their mobile phones were all under the borrowed names.

The construction industry is traditionally well known for the multiple tiers of outsourcing. Foreign workers in particular hired by the illegal temporary employment agencies are subject to low wages, long working hours and dangerous works without proper protection.

Local construction workers are increasingly losing job opportunities due to the dominance of foreign workers in the construction sites, while foreign workers are exploited through the multi-tier outsourcing practice.

reported by Bae Hye-jeong
translated by Kim Sung-jin