Taiwan Quick Take: CLA refutes Ho's suspicions

Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation's (KRTC) recruitment of local laborers on Aug. 8 was not linked to its application to extend its employment of foreign labor, the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) said yesterday. The council issued a news release aimed at clearing up recent suspicions clouding the KRTC's recruitment of Taiwanese workers early last week. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ho Tsai-feng (侯彩鳳) has voiced suspicions that the recruitment was a cover-up for the council's move to loosen employment regulations for the KRTC. In response, the bureau said the KRTC's quota for foreign employees has been decreased by 971 workers due to its poor treatment of foreign workers and violation of their rights last August. Although the KRTC is able to apply for an extension of employment for its existing 1,064 foreign workers by law if no violation is reported, the application does not have anything to do with the recruitment, the CLA said.