In a bid to provide a better service to foreign workers seeking information or help regarding SARS-related matters, the Cabinet-level Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) has opened hot lines in four different foreign languages to offer free consultations, a CLA official said yesterday.
The four hot lines are 0800-885885 for the English service, 0800-885995 for the Thai service, 0800-885958 for the Indonesian service or 0800-017858 for the Vietnamese service.
The official added that the rights and interests of foreign workers in Taiwan who become infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) will be fully protected.
foreign workers
The official said foreign workers, including the 13 currently in quarantine at the Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital, will be equally covered and protected in compliance with an anti-SARS act.
The anti-SARS act was recently approved by the Legislative Yuan to fight the potentially deadly disease.
Under the terms of the act, Taiwan employers must pay the salaries and provide sick leave to foreign workers who fall victim to SARS or even die from the disease.
insurance
After the quarantine period for any of their employees ends, the employers can apply for labor premium insurance subsidies with the CLA in accordance with the law.
Two workers from Indonesia have already died from the mysterious epidemic thus far.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
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