A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator and a labor rights group yesterday accused President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of breaking a campaign promise not to open the market to Chinese workers, after the Council of Agriculture began allowing Chinese fishermen to operate at a fishing port and announced plans to extend the measures.
On Aug. 12, while attending a National Fisheries Conference, Ma said the government would loosen restrictions, allowing Chinese fishermen to work in fenced off, monitored areas at certain fishing ports to help their employers with a wider array of tasks.
Ma said at the time that it would be unreasonable to ban the fishermen from performing certain tasks if they were allowed to work at the ports.
The government expanded the fenced-off port area for Chinese workers at Nanfangao (南方澳) fishing port in Ilan County on Aug. 5 to allow them to perform tasks such as unloading cargo.
The area measures 120m by 50m. Chinese fishermen are allowed to unload cargo, prepare fishing bait, and repair nets in the area — tasks the labor group argues should be done by domestic workers.
Wuchi (梧棲) fishing port in Taichung County will have a fenced off area for Chinese workers by the end of this year, followed by Badouzih (八斗子) in Keelung, Nanliao (南寮) in Hsinchu City and Donggang (東港) in Pingtung County next year.
Fisheries Agency officials said Chinese fishermen would be able to earn money doing tasks on shore.
DPP Legislator Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) yesterday criticized the changes, saying they posed a threat to social order and the rights of domestic workers.
She expressed concern that the port shelters could be repeatedly expanded to include more workers and processing facilities.
Taiwan Labor Front head Son Yu-lian (孫友聯) said the unemployment rate was high because of the global financial crisis, with more than 1,000 workers losing their jobs each day.
The government should create jobs for locals rather than importing cheap Chinese labor, he said.
In response, Fisheries Agency Director James Sha (沙志一) said the areas in which Chinese fishermen operate on shore would be fenced off with steel bars and monitored by cameras and that employers would be responsible for their behavior.
In addition, Chinese fishermen will only be allowed to work at the areas between 8am and 5pm and the maximum number of workers allowed at each area at any given time will be 100, he said.
Sha said the fishing industry had been suffering a serious manpower shortage for years because local workers do not want to take the jobs.
The agency has tried to attract local workers with monthly subsidies to no avail, he said.
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