Wed, Aug 24, 2005 page2

• Government blasted over riot response

  MALTREATMENT TSU and KMT lawmakers attacked the CLA for its apathy with regard to foreign laborers, saying its budget might be suspended if it didn't act

  • BY KO SHU-LING / STAFF REPORTER
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  The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) legislative caucus yesterday threatened to freeze the annual budget of the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) if it fails to improve the working conditions and human rights of foreign laborers, in the aftermath of a riot by Thai workers in Kaohsiung.

  "The government should use this incident to reflect, and ponder a way to solve this problem," TSU Legislator Tseng Tsan-teng (曾燦燈) said. "They should put themselves in the shoes of foreign laborers, and see how they would feel if they were treated like the Thai workers were."

  About 300 Thai workers, who are building Kaohsiung mass rapid transit (MRT) system, set fire to a management office and damaged other facilities on Sunday night as they vented their anger for what they called inhumane treatment.

  

  A police officer records video footage yesterday of the damage done by rioting Thai workers on Sunday. The management office of the workers' dorm was gutted by fire and the floor is piled with bank books belonging to the Thai workers.

  PHOTO: WANG RONG-HSIANG, TAIPEI TIMES

  Tseng said that although the CLA has set up a toll-free hotline for foreign workers, the line is always busy and the call center is understaffed, with only four people.

  Tseng called on the government to look into the rumor that some government officials, including former and incumbent lawmakers, are behind broker company's exploitation and maltreatment of foreign workers.

  "I have heard that one former lawmaker has been using his privileges to manipulate the foreign laborer market, and that he is not acting alone but as a group," he said, refusing to elaborate.

  TSU Legislator Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) said that Thai workers building Kaohsiung's MRT system are living in shoddy conditions worse than that in jails.

  She cited a media report indicating that an inmate stays in a room that is about 0.7 ping, but a Thai worker gets to stay in a space that is only 0.47 ping. The Thai workers are not allowed to use or own cellphones, while prisoners get to see visitors via videoconferencing devices.

  Lai said that such maltreatment is just the tip of the iceberg.

  "Since foreign workers were first introduced to the local labor market in 1989, the CLA has been conniving with broker companies to exploit foreign workers like slaves," she said.

  Another TSU legislator, David Huang (黃適卓), called on the government to improve the living and working conditions of foreign laborers and re-examine its foreign worker policy.

  Saying that it is an "open secret" that some lawmakers collude with broker companies to bring in foreign laborers and share benefits, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Chong-hsiung (徐中雄) yesterday called on prosecutors to take the initiative to conduct an investigation into the matter.

  In related developments, Thailand said yesterday it will delay sending some 800 laborers to Taiwan while it reviews the contracts of its overseas workers.

  Thai Labor Minister Somsak Thepsutin said the violence was an isolated incident and would not affect the country's reputation.

  "We will delay the travel of 800 workers going to Taiwan and we will review all contracts, starting with those in Taiwan," he told reporters.

  Somsak did not say why the contracts would be reviewed, but Thai media reports have said that many of the arrangements are unfair to workers.

  Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the de facto Thai embassy in Taipai was negotiating with authorities there.

  He added that he opposed sending unskilled laborers to other countries.

  According to statistics of National Police Administration (NPA), workers from Thailand form the largest foreign labor group in Taiwan. NPA figures show there are now more than 94,000 Thai people working in the country.

  In terms of nationality, 94,742 foreign workers were from Thailand, accounting for 34.1 percent of all foreign laborers in the country.
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