Wed, May 26, 2010 page8

• LETTERS

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  ‘Ashen decade’ awaits

  According to a recent report, Chinese customs in Shenzhen are to forbid terms such as “Taiwan,” “Taiwan, ROC,” or “Taipei, Taiwan” appearing on any documents for Taiwanese exports. Instead, these goods can only enter into clearance procedure with place of origin recorded as “Taiwan, China.”

  Apparently, this practice has been in place since 2005, which should also come as an embarrassment to the former Democratic Progressive Party government, considering its justified but rather late concern with Taiwan’s rapidly eroding economic and political sovereignty.

  Despite “protests” from Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Sheng-Chung (林聖忠), can we really expect the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government to make a principled stand on this issue, given that it watches idly as illegal Chinese products continue to flood the country — including, recently, illegal Chinese laborers, some of whom are apparently being employed in Taichung helping to build the new offices of the Taichung City Council?

  Both in principle and practice, it would appear that what’s good for business comes first and all other considerations are an afterthought. The construction­-boom theory of development (if in doubt, pour more concrete and the economy will recover) stands as a great example of putting the needs of developers first and the environment and citizens last.

  Greenlighting more large-scale polluting factories and science parks in Yunlin, Changhua and Taichung counties and undermining rigorous environmental impact assessments speak volumes about the government’s so-called “green” policies, as does the Taipei City Council’s alleged involvement in the effective silencing of Green Party Taiwan’s recent bus ad campaign drawing attention to Formosa Plastic’s appalling record on carbon emissions and pollution.

  It is clear that this government of slogans, intent on reaching the world through China, has no stomach to fight for Taiwan or Taiwanese interests. It would rather talk big and act small, lest it draw the ire of companies that have a disproportionate influence on government policy.

  The forthcoming Taiwan-China trade pact will not cure the economy nor bring about a “golden decade.” It will instead make it almost impossible for future governments to implement any kind of protections for local businesses, its citizens or the environment. Instead, an “ashen decade” of tears and impotence will have begun.

  Ben Goren

  Taichung

  Temp workers need training

  Even as the global financial crisis subsides, many companies continue to lay off employees to reduce costs. As a result, the need for temporary workers is increasing rapidly.

  Some industries hire those temporary workers, but pay them less than regular employees. This system is now generating problems and creating social injustice.

  From your story about temporary workers (“Temporary workers plan may cause problems,” May 12, page 8), I find two main problems in the “dispatched laborers” system.

  First, these workers don’t understand the content of their contract. The workers agency unilaterally signs the contract with the government for these workers.

  Therefore, the workers may have conflicts with agencies or companies when they find that the content and nature of their jobs are not what they expected.

  Second, these workers fail to receive complete training from the hiring agencies. Industries don’t give them the chance to have basic training, since employers are unwilling to spend extra money on short-term workers.

  More seriously, the Council of Labor Affairs states a policy that the percentage of dispatched employees in a company should be no higher than 3 percent. Some industries disagree with the policy and have declared that they will outsource to China. If those industries take action, Taiwan’s unemployment rate will be much higher than it already is.

  Although dispatched workers represent cost savings for the hiring companies, they receive little benefit from their jobs nor are they provided with any due protection.

  Industries should offer chances of basic training to dispatched workers, for they could become equally competent as regular workers. Through successive learning and training, dispatched workers may demonstrate enough ability to produce benefits for industries as well as the job market.

  Steven Chang

  Taipei
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