Mon, Jan 16, 2006 - Page 2 News List

Despite hardships, foreign workers stay on in Taiwan

HARD-KNOCK LIFE Though the nation's 300,000 foreign workers suffer loneliness, low pay, exploitative bosses and shady brokers, Taiwan is still their land of opportunity

AP , JHONGLI

Ciceri says that the rules established by the CLA provide adequate protection for foreign workers, but chides the council for alleged ineffectiveness.

"The CLA is supposed to be protecting the foreign workers, but in fact it is not," he said.

An official at the CLA's Foreign Workers Section denied Ciceri's claim.

"If there are incidents of exploitation, workers can come to us for help," said the official, who asked not to be named because she is not an official spokeswoman.

The council's spokesman declined to comment.

Interviews with foreign workers paint a mostly favorable picture of employment conditions.

Chachana said he was "more or less" satisfied with his treatment at his last place of work in Taoyuan County, just west of Taipei.

"We slept on bunk beds, five or six people in a reasonably large room," he said. "With overtime I was making about NT$20,000 a month, and after deductions for health care and broker's fees and taxes I was able to send a little less than half of that home. It wasn't bad at all."

Another foreign worker, 27-year-old Pham Thi Xim from Vietnam's Ninh Binh province, said she was well-treated while working as a caretaker for an elderly woman.

"It was very hard work," she said. "But the money helps my family. I will stay as long as I can."

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