A number of recent incidents point to the challenges for migrant workers in Taiwan. In particular, apart from that racism influences policy-making when it comes to migrant workers, one notes how migrant workers are still denied the fundamental rights that Taiwanese workers enjoy...
A few months before the presidential elections, I gave a talk in Taipei on the responsible recruitment of migrant workers, where they do not bear the cost of their job recruitment and begin their employment saddled by debt. Afterwards, a participant came up to ask me which presidential candidate I thought would stand the best chance to reform Taiwan’s labour recruitment system towards the Employers Pays Principle, where the costs of recruitment are borne by the employers...
Strikes for EVA Air and the Taiwan Railways are off ahead of the Lunar New Year, following negotiations by unions in both EVA and the Taiwan Railways Corporation with the management of both companies. If the strikes had gone ahead, this would have posed significant disruption to travelers seeking to return home for the holidays...
The corporatization of the Taiwan Railways Administration, changing it from an agency of government into the state-owned enterprise of the Taiwan Railways Corporation, puts an end to a long-run labor struggle by workers. The struggle went on for many years, but the inability of workers to stop the corporatization reflects the weakness, in many ways, of Taiwanese labor...
The Taiwan Railways Administration was recently fined 300,000 NT for allowing unlicensed staff to drive vehicles used to repair tracks. This is the first time since 2021 that the TRA has faced such fines. Since the incident, the TRA claims that the staff members who were allowed to test the vehicles will undergo the licensing process...
During International Human Rights Day on December 10th, an estimated one thousand migrant workers from Southeast Asia together with Taiwanese labor and human rights activists marched on the streets of Taipei for the second biannual migrant worker rally with the theme “No Justice in Cross-Border Employment, Where is the Responsibility of the Government?”. The protest was to call for the abolishment of the private broker system and direct government to government hiring between Taiwan and the nation of origin, as well as strengthened public services for migrant workers especially for those that face abuse from employers...
Taiwanese social media has seen a wave of posts reacting to the possibility of opening up Taiwan to Indian workers. In particular, the posts are xenophobic in nature, framing Indians as rapists who would sexually assault Taiwanese women if they are allowed into Taiwan. This has led to online calls for a march against the planned opening up...
Union groups demonstrated in front of the Executive Yuan earlier this week over pensions, calling for an increase in the minimum contribution to pensions from employers. The groups included the Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions, the Taiwan Federation of Financial Unions, the Taipei City Confederation of Trade Unions, the Kaohsiung City Confederation of Trade Unions, the Taipower Union, the Taiwan High-Speed Rail Union, and the Taiwan Water Industry Union. This represents among Taiwan’s largest trade confederations, as well as a number of workers from state-owned enterprises...
Zookeepers have called for higher pay, with zookeepers at the Taipei Zoo criticizing stagnant wages for the last thirty years. Currently, zookeepers are usually paid between 31,000 NT and 38,000 NT...