The Indonesian Economic and Trade Office to Taipei said yesterday it expects to present a proposal to the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) today aimed at ending Taiwan's embargo on Indonesian workers.
The announcement came after talks in which Indonesia's repre-sentatives agreed to pressure Indonesian employment brokerages to lower the fees they charge prospective migrants to Taiwan.
"We expect to submit a comprehensive proposal today to address the issues raised by the Council of Labor Affairs," Supono, vice chairman of the trade office, told the Taipei Times after the talks.
Outstanding issues include the burden placed on workers by the relatively high fees of Indonesian brokers, the Indonesian government's insistence that employees pay a monthly refundable bond and Taiwan's demand that Indonesia take steps to reduce rates of abscondence among its workers.
"The talk is a good start for us," said Liao Wei-jen (廖為仁), an official with the CLA's Employment and Vocational Training Administration, at a press conference following the meeting.
Supono was optimistic following yesterday's meeting.
"The talk was constructive and positive. We believe that there will be a happy ending soon," Supono said.
The ban on Indonesian workers took effect Aug. 1. The CLA claims that the Indonesian government hasn't made any effort to reduce the increasing rates of absence among its workers in Taiwan. It also cited Jakarta's requirement that employment brokers retain a NT$3,000 per month bond from workers' wages, payable to the employee at the end of their contract -- something other countries that supply workers to Taiwan do not require. The council also said that most of the documents submitted by labor brokers to guarantee that their brokerage fees had been lowered were false.
According to Liao, the Indonesian negotiators promised to prevail upon Indonesia-based brokerages to lower their fees and to remove the requirement that Taiwan-based brokers withhold NT$3,000 a month.
The Indonesian brokerages deal with recruitment and training of prospective migrant workers, referring them to the Taiwanese agencies which place them with employers and levy the monthly bond on behalf of the Indonesian government.
"They [Indonesian side] still want NT$3,000 per month to be retained from each worker, but they promised to establish their own system for this, instead of asking employment brokers to do so," Liao added.
The Indonesian government believes that retaining part of the workers' wages could prevent them from absconding, but Taiwanese law forbids employers and brokers to retaining funds from workers' wages.
Liao, meanwhile, quoted the Indonesian negotiators as saying that the Indonesian side has found that 31 brokerage agencies made false statements to the government that they were charging lower brokerage fees than in fact was the case.
Liao added that, following Indonesia's punishment of the 31 agencies, those agencies will lose their right to broker migrant workers wanting to come to Taiwan.
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