Tue, Aug 23, 2005 - Page 1 News List

Thai workers riot against `unfair' firm

`INHUMAN TREATMENT' Hundreds of Thai workers in Kaohsiung took the law into their own hands to protest what they call unacceptable treatment by their employer

STAFF WRITER WITH DPA , TAIPEI

He said the council will also punish the employer, the Kaohsiung Mass Transit Bureau, for mismanagement by slashing by 800 the number of foreign workers the company is entitled to import to help it construct the transit system.

Asked for comments, Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said yesterday that local employers must try their best to protect foreign laborers' legal and human rights.

"These people [foreign workers] flew far away from their homes and came to Taiwan for jobs, and most of them are doing heavy-duty work, such as construction work. Basically, we should try to understand their feelings," the premier said.

"Employers should pay attention to these foreign workers' emotions from time to time, because it will be too late to do so when tragedy happens," he said, adding that he has already directed the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) to look into the latest incident.

There are some 100,000 Thai workers in Taiwan.

Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang

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