A riot by Thai workers on Sunday night in Kaohsiung wasn't a prison riot, but there were many common features. Although the workers are not prisoners, their freedom is restricted to almost the same degree and the conditions they live in are not dissimilar to a jail. In a nation that prides itself as being built on human rights, the riot that swept through the community of construction workers is a shameful incident.
On Sunday night, hundreds of the 1,700 Thai workers living in dormitories provided by the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Company (KRTC) in the Peichichang (
After more than 15 hours of negotiations between representatives of the government, the KRTC and the workers, an agreement was reached and the incident can be said to have been brought to a conclusion.
The arson, stone-throwing and smashing of cars perpetrated by the workers are serious crimes and the government should ensure that there is no repetition of such violations of public safety laws. But the Thai workers' demands were not unreasonable.
Their requests to be allowed to use mobile phones, that a ban on alcohol be lifted, that their NT$5,000 in pocket money be paid in cash rather than tokens, that a satellite dish be installed so they can watch Thai television programs, that overtime be paid according to work done -- and that a limit on paid overtime of 46 hours be lifted -- and that Thais be employed as dormitory management staff, are perfectly reasonable.
In Taiwan today, people are unwilling to accept labor-intensive, high-risk, dirty or low-wage work. The government has no option but to import foreign workers to relieve the labor shortage in these sectors. Unfortunately, regulations, society and employers' attitudes have not been adjusted to fit the new situation. Outdated laws, poor management, a slave-owner mentality and cultural differences have caused friction between employers and employees, sowing the seeds of unrest.
The KRTC has used military-style discipline to simplify the management of thousands of Thai workers, allotting them poor housing and restricting their freedom of movement. This is unnecessary. Although employers can impose certain regulations during working hours, once work is over it's a different matter. It is unnecessary to prevent workers from using mobile phones, smoking or watching television after work, or to regulate how they spend their money.
Last Friday, a letter appeared on this page detailing the ill-treatment given a Filipina maid working for a Taiwanese family. The letter created quite a stir, and even the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, the Philippines' representative office in Taiwan, contacted us to enquire if they could offer assistance.
There are undoubtedly many similar cases in Taiwan. Such infringements of the basic human rights of foreign workers cannot be condoned. Government intervention and the establishment of a channel for victims to air their grievances, is necessary.
In the past it was Taiwanese laborers that went abroad to find employment. Now we import foreign labor. These workers have been indispensable to the nation's economic development and we could not do without them, in terms of both their contribution to the economy as well as our society.
Employers need to change the way they treat these workers: There should be mutual respect between employer and employee. Harmonious relations start with the observance of humanity.
When Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping (習近平) wakes up one morning and decides that his People’s Liberation Army (PLA) can win a war to conquer Taiwan, that is when his war will begin. To ensure that Xi never gains that confidence it is now necessary for the United States to shed any notions of “forbearance” in arms sales to Taiwan. Largely because they could guarantee military superiority on the Taiwan Strait, US administrations from Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama practiced “forbearance” — pre-emptive limitation of arms sales to Taiwan — in hopes of gaining diplomatic leverage with Beijing. President Ronald
As the US marks one month under the leadership of President Joe Biden, the conversations around Taiwan have shifted. As I discussed in a Taipei Times article (“No more talk of ‘bargaining chips,’” Jan. 30, page 8), with the end of former US president Donald Trump’s administration — and all of the unpredictability associated with it — Taiwan would not have to worry about being used as a “bargaining chip” in some sort of deal with the People’s Republic of China. The talk of Taiwan being used as a bargaining chip never subsided over those four years, but under Biden, those
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) talked about “opposing the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]” in a recent Facebook post, writing that opposing the CCP is not the special reserve of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Not long after, many people within the KMT received a mysterious letter signed “Chinese Nationalist Party Central Committee” containing what looked like a declaration of opposition to, and a call to arms against, the CCP. Unexpectedly, the KMT’s Culture and Communications Committee came forward with a clarification, saying that the letter was not sent by the KMT and telling the public not to believe
The Canadian parliament on Monday passed a motion saying that China’s human rights abuses against the country’s Uighur Muslim population in Xinjiang constitute “genocide.” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has so far avoided using the word genocide in regard to Xinjiang, but if he did, it would begin to generate solidarity among G7 nations on the issue — which is something Trudeau has called for. Former US president Donald Trump used the word genocide regarding Xinjiang before leaving office last month, and members of US President Joe Biden’s administration have been pushing for him to make the same declaration, a Reuters report
RSS