Hello! Apologies for the lack of updates. I just returned from a visa-run to Thailand--it was quite beautiful by the way. I'm now back in the office and it feels busier than ever. Anyway, I neglected to post this before, but here are some of my notes on the Public Hearing on Workers' Rights in Taipei in early July:

11 July 2008

There was a public hearing with Taiwanese legislators, labor organizations, scholars, activists, etc., at the parliament building in Taipei. The topic of the day would be the issue of home-care workers’ rights especially in terms of time off. Currently foreign migrant laborers in home-care have no legal protections. There were several organizations present, including the Taiwanese International Workers Association (TIWA) and the Migrant Workers Alliance. From our organization, those present were Cha Hung, Chi Loan, Chen-Chen and some ladies from the shelter. There was a pamphlet given out concerning the protection for workers’ rights and interests and a comparative analysis between labor practices in Taiwan and other Asian countries/regions such as Hong Kong. I was very lucky to have Chen-Chen there for a portion of the hearing to translate for me. It was an open forum for discussion about any and all issues concerning the rights of these workers.

What is currently happening in Taiwan is that there is a substantial amount of elderly people relative to young people in the country. Of concern also is the disabled population. Families are thus increasingly becoming reliant on foreign laborers, especially women to fulfill the role of care-taker. Most of the time, workers are required to work on an average of 9.5-13 hours/day with no days off because these individuals need this type of constant care. The issue of protecting these workers have been talked about in the same way for the past several years without any real gains on changing policy. The strong sentiment present that day called for state intervention as the best and only solution in solving these problems. These workers are merely asking for basic legal protections and the right to time off. There are approximately 160,000 total foreign home care workers (“modern-day slaves”) in Taiwan.

Cha Hung also spoke at the hearing. He notes that brokerage companies suck money out of workers and that they have no basic freedoms. Their papers and legal documentation are confiscated by their brokers. Taiwan is mostly seen as a modern democracy, but its track record in the human rights department leaves much to be desired. He told the story of a woman who killed her employer and then tried to kill herself because the situation was so bad. This woman was not covered under any labor laws.

There is also the issue of local domestic workers. They cannot find jobs and blame this on foreign workers.

Long working hours have been an issue for quite a while. What kept being emphasized by those opposed to new legislation was that home-care workers/employers have different needs and thus cannot be ruled under the same laws and regulations as other types of jobs. With issues of labor regulation/exploitation, ENFORCEMENT is a big issue. Many of the times, workers are made to do things that they simply did not sign up for. A particularly salient question is: How do we go about monitoring these unjust practices?

It was nice seeing the great solidarity among the workers and proponents of social justice gathered in a forum to voice their rights and concerns, although it was unclear what kind of headway in terms of potential policy change was made that day.