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Taiwan, Vietnam hold labor talks

Koa Chi-jen, center, deputy chairman of the Council of Labor Affairs, and Nguyen Luong Trao Vietnam's vice minister of labor, shake hands yesterday. PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) and a Vietnamese delegation reached consensus on several labor issues and vowed closer cooperation yesterday during their first bilateral labor conference.

The successful dialogue between Council deputy chairman Koa Chi-jen (郭吉仁) and Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Welfare Nguyen Luong Trao stands in stark contrast to the recent difficulties the Council has experienced with Thailand and Indonesia over labor issues.

"Both sides are glad with the result," Koa said at a press conference held after the meeting.

Both sides focused yesterday on seeking solutions for the high runaway rate among Vietnamese laborers, which at 2.75 percent is the second highest among the five countries that Taiwan imports labor from.

Chu Cong-phung (周功逢), representative of the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, said that Vietnam would select better and efficient workers and enhance their professional training in order to limit the number of runaways.

He also said that his government would revoke the operating licenses of Vietnamese brokerage agencies that have too many of their workers abscond in Taiwan. However, he said his government had not yet worked out the specifics for such a policy.

"We hope the number of Vietnamese labors can increase eventually," Chu said.

Liao Wei-jen (廖為仁), an official with the Council's Employment and Vocational Training Administration, explained that caregivers spend 24 hours a day with their employers, which could easily lead to disputes between employee and employer and lead to abscondence.

The CLA has tried to assist Vietnamese workers who encounter difficulties with their employers, include offering Vietnamese-speaking consultants.

Taiwan started importing workers from Vietnam in 1999. Currently there are 20,381 Vietnamese laborers employed here, mostly as construction workers or care givers. Taiwan considers Vietnam one of the more cooperative countries when it comes to labor importation and has been eager to develop better bilateral relations.

Taiwan also requested that the Vietnamese government check its brokerage agencies' charges more frequently in order to prevent the agencies from charging more than they should.

The Vietnamese representatives promised to pay extra attention to this issue.

Consensus was also reached on ending the practice of brokerage agencies in Taiwan withholding 10 percent of Vietnamese workers' salaries for the Vietnamese government's taxes, since Council regulations bar brokers from keeping any money from workers' salaries.

Kuo Fang-yu (郭芳煜), director-general of the Council's Employment and Vocational Training Administration, said that the Council "really doesn't want any Taiwanese brokerage agency keeping any money from foreign laborers."
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