News Desk The China Post Publication Date : 07-03-2011   Filipino workers in Taiwan Sunday (March 6) protested against the government's freeze on workers entering the nation after the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) tightened screening of job applications, as the Philippines continues to refuse to apologise for the deportation of 14 Taiwanese fraud suspects to China. The move was considered by local activists to be technically barring the influx of workers. Filipino migrant workers union KaSaPi, the Taiwan International Workers' Association (TIWA), Indonesian migrant workers association IPIT and other related organisations rallied on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office holding up signs that read “APOLOGIZE” and calling out slogans like “We did nothing wrong” to express their displeasure over the situation. The workers also performed the traditional Filipino “Ati-Atihan” dance to Korean pop song “Sorry Sorry”, all in hopes of the government accepting their apology on behalf of the Philippine government and calling off the retaliatory measure. Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou is reportedly greatly dissatisfied with the Philippines after President Benigno Aquino III denied Taiwan's request for an apology. The “A-word” (apologise) sparked further dispute when the envoy from the Philippines, sent by Aquino to Taiwan to repair bilateral relations, also offered no official apology. Wu Yong-yi, a researcher from TIWA, asked the government to listen to the Filipino workers in Taiwan, as the workers are innocent and the real victims of the diplomatic row between the two countries. Instead of letting Filipino workers become scapegoats for the Philippines, Taiwan should draft more appropriate measures against the Filipino government, said Wu. The CLA implemented a stricter screening of applications for hiring new Filipino workers on February 8, which TIWA said amounted to a “technical freeze on Filipino workers”. Currently, the screening period for new Filipino workers' applications can take up to four months, compared with the previous 12-day maximum, said CLA minister Wang Ju-hsuan. Wang also stated last month that the CLA is ready to implement a total freeze on work permits for new Filipino workers if the foreign affairs ministry decides to adopt more stringent measures against the Philippines. According to Wu, there are around 80,000 Filipino workers in Taiwan. The punitive measures will directly affect another 5,000 workers who are currently applying for jobs in Taiwan and another 3,000 who are about to change their contracts. http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/news.php?id=17766

Source: Taipei Times KICKING UP A STINK: The laid-off workers described the government as being ‘incompetent’ in fighting for their rights and said they will hold more protests on Saturday. By Shelley Huang / Staff Reporter Former employees of Japan Airlines’ (JAL) Taiwan branch yesterday gathered in front of the Council of Labor Affairs in Taipei to protest against what they called the council’s turning a blind eye to illegal mass layoffs by the company.

Migrant workers, trade unionists and students were among those who joined in with the international celebration of May Day in Hong Kong on Saturday. The march was organised by the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions. Demonstrators marched from Victoria Park to the Central Government Offices chanting slogans calling for improvement to labour rights and working conditions. One of the key issues for protestors this year was the demand for a minimum wage of HK$33 per hour. Many workers in Hong Kong are forced to work for poverty wages.

By Robert Tierney There are many Indonesian migrant workers in Taiwan. In fact twice as many of the country's documented migrant workers come from Indonesia as from Vietnam or the Philippines or Thailand, each of which accounts for about 20 percent of 346,000-strong migrant workforce. The vast majority of Indonesian workers are women employed as care-givers for the elderly but there are also a significant number of men.

Source: The China Post, 13 April 2010. TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Young Fast Optoelectronics Co., Ltd., a leading manufacturer of small to medium-sized touch panel sensor (TPS) products, promised yesterday to review and improve employment policies after being accused of violating labor regulations. Led by labor unions, company employees staged protests accusing the management of assigning students hired by the company to the night shift and forcing them to work more than eight hours per day.

(This article is only written in Chinese.)  

Dragging On and On, HSWs under No Legal Protection! Changing Forever, CLA Tramples upon the Migrant Rights! A Statement by MENT 2009/08/26 The migrant household service workers (HSWs) have been introduced [to Taiwan] for 17 years, and the legal protection is still beyond the reach of these orphans of labor-right!

Nothing grows here in the shadows. There is only desolation in the tired soil at Paballo Marumo’s cracked and filthy feet. Her shoes, the thin plastic sandals worn by children across the townships of southern Africa, are gone. “Stolen!” she tells me in her language, Sesotho. At eight years old she sits hopelessly at the bottom of the rubbish dump hierarchy.

Taipei, Aug. 4, 2009 (CENS)--Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world`s leading contract IC maker, may become the first hi-tech company in Taiwan with a labor union. Over 30 TSMC employees have expressed their willingness to organize a labor union via a website, dubbed `the association of labor rights of science park," set up by the Labor Party.

(Written in Chinese only)