Opponents of the plan have also decried the proposed three-month waiting period following the end of a contract after which the saved NT$36,000 can be remitted to the laborer's account in their country of origin. There are additional fears that banks with captive customers would be free to gouge laborers with unforeseen remittance fees and unfavorable exchange rates.
Chen believes the fears are overblown or misplaced and that areas of contention can be reviewed such that the NGO groups and workers can be satisfied with the plan.
With the proposed system, he said, banks could be required to notify the CLA when irregularities appear in accounts, signalling a possible failure of employers to pay salaries, or attempts by brokers to impose extraneous fees on laborers beyond the NT$1,500 to NT$1,800 they deduct monthly from their minimum-wage monthly salaries of NT$15,840. The plan would also require that laborers' money be remitted to their home countries through certified banks, as opposed to through underground remittance services handling much of the NT$70 billion per year transferred by workers to their home countries.
"Our aim is to protect the workers from being exploited," Chen said.
However, to circumvent the cap on monthly deductions, a common practice among brokers is to impose private loan agreements that then fall outside the CLA's jurisdiction. The new system, opponents say, would not eliminate private loan agreements that are the crux of worker exploitation.
"These loans keep workers beholden to the brokers under the threat that they may go home without any money at all," Father Tajonera said. Instead, say opponents, the proposal would institutionalize supervisory powers over migrants' bank accounts to employers, reducing workers' leverage in a disagreement and infringing on their privacy.
A spokesman for the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants, described the plan as pouring salt on wounds when considering the exorbitant fees workers face from brokers and placement agencies, as well as costs for Alien Resident Card processing, annual medical check-ups and return airfare that in recent years were transferred to the workers.
To Chen, the current divergence of opinions on the matter is distressing. "There's a strong need for dialogue on the issue. We're not going to push ahead with a plan that workers are strongly against."
That spells trouble, then, for the CLA, given that a signature drive is set to begin today in places of worship throughout northern Taiwan against the proposal and that once the words "forced savings" are floated, a chorus of opposition erupts, as did on Thursday night at the trash pick-up site.
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