More than 50 Aborigine workers from around the nation gathered in Taipei yesterday to complain about the discrimination they face at work, providing a contrast to the government's efforts to protect human rights.
The Aborigines claimed that their lives are even more painful and disadvantaged than foreign workers, local Chinese-language newspapers reported yesterday.
In a press conference held by Aborigine lawmaker May Chin (
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
A tearful man from the Amis tribe (阿美族) said that he worked extremely hard for more than 10 hours a day with a lunch break that was no longer than 30 minutes. But when he felt exhausted and unable to work more overtime, he was "scolded for being stupid and lazy."
Speaking in quivering and awkward Mandarin, another Amis man questioned why his employer, the BES Engineering Corp (
"We are unfairly treated by construction contractors, who forced us to work overtime without giving us appropriate wages. They even sneered at us, claiming without any evidence that `You Aborigines like to drink and don't work hard at all.'"
Taiwan now employs more than 380,000 foreign workers. In comparison, only 420,000 Aborigines are employed nationwide.
Sister Stephana Wei Wei (
The workers expressed their hopes that the government would spend more time investigating the plight Aborigines face, instead of spending a huge amount of money on propaganda promoting the government's performance.
Chin also suggested that the Cabinet-level Council of Indigenous Peoples (原住民委員會) regularly make public the number of unemployed Aborigines and map out policies to boost employment.
To get the government's attention, in the middle of the press conference Chin sent a fax to the Presidential Office.
The fax contained what she said was relevant information that she hoped the president would use to ensure the working rights of indigenous people.
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