The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) told the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Investment Commission that it opposes allowing a leading touch-panel sensor maker facing a series of labor disputes to make capital investments in China.
After more than five months, labor disputes have yet to be settled at Young Fast Optical Inc, which employs more than 700 people. The company has been accused of labor violations including the mass layoff of domestic workers to replace them with foreign labor, failure to pay for overtime, insufficient allocation of labor pension funds and illegally employing students under the age of 16 to work overtime via education programs.
The Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) bars students under the age of 16 who are participating in cooperative education programs from working more than eight hours per day. Employers in violation of this are criminally liable and can face up to six years in prison and be fined up to NT$20,000.
Repeated protests by unions and labor groups prompted the council to investigate the matter and found that certain allegations against the company were true. The council’s Bureau of Labor Insurance also recently fined the company for underinsuring its workers.
The council, which handed the case over to Taoyuan County prosecutors for further investigation, said that because several allegations are still being investigated and labor management disputes have not been settled, it opposed allowing the company to make investments abroad.
When the Investment Commission, which is evaluating whether to approve Young Fast’s proposal to make a capital investment in China, consulted the council on the matter, the latter voiced its opposition in an effort to protect employees’ rights at the company, it said.
In related news, the council said it plans to create 45,000 jobs in the public sector later this year in order to keep unemployment rates under control.
The latest unemployment numbers released by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics showed a slight increase in the number of unemployed people last month. Although the increase was expected because of fresh graduates entering the workforce, the council said it was closely watching job market indicators to keep the jobless rate under control.
The council said that about 15,000 of the jobs would be temporary positions aimed at groups that were particularly hard hit by the economic downturn, such as middle-aged, elderly and handicapped workers. The council plans to create the temporary, public-sector jobs in September.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
RSS