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 (
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.
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 (
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 (
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 (
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.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS