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Chunghwa Telecom has violated labor law: CLA

The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) has determined that Chunghwa Telecom violated the Labor Standards Law (勞基法) by unilaterally extending employees' working hours without first securing the approval of its labor union.

CLA Deputy Minister Kuo Fong-yu (郭芳煜) said in a meeting at the legislature's Transportation Committee yesterday morning that based on the council's investigation, Chunghwa Telecom arbitrarily decided to extend the working hours of customer representatives from 6.5 hours to 7.25 hours daily.

Although the company claimed it had informed the labor union about the decision, it was never approved by the union, he said.

The council also found that the company did not compensate its employees for working overtime, nor did it reward employees with perfect attendance records.

Chunghwa Telecom labor union representatives at the meeting also presented a booklet detailing alleged illegal labor practices by the company, with several cases in court.

One of the major cases involved a Kaohsiung court ruling which found in favor of a Chunghwa Telecom employee, who accused the company of forcing employees to accept positions at far-away locations or accept early retirement. The court ordered Chunghwa Telecom to pay NT$160,000 as compensation to the employee in March last year.

The telecom company's illegal labor practices faced harsh criticism at the legislative meeting yesterday.

"Chunghwa Telecom has posted huge annual profits, but what they did has set a bad example to the public," Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wang Yu-ting (王昱婷) said.

Another KMT legislator, Ho Tsai-feng (侯彩鳳), asked if members of the company's board representing the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) had exercised their authority and monitored the company's operations.

Chunghwa Telecom has 15 board directors, of which 11 are MOTC representatives.

In response, MOTC Deputy Minister Ho Nuan-hsuen (何煖軒) said that the ministry could not interfere in the internal affairs of the company, but it could still address its concerns through the board directors.

Ho added that Chunghwa's management and labor representatives will hold another round of negotiations today.

The ministry will then issue a response based on the results of the negotiations, he said.

Chunghwa Telecom has conducted negotiations with the labor union twice. While the company insisted it had followed the Labor Standards Law when it adjusted the working hours, the union said the company had broken the contract between labor and management with the action.

Despite the raging controversy, Ho said it was still too early to determine whether Chunghwa chairman Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) should be replaced at the shareholders' meeting next month.

KMT Legislator Lwo Shih-hsiung (羅世雄) said Hochen was suspected of share price manipulation related to the company's purchase of shares of MiTAC Inc late last year.

Lwo pointed out that MiTAC's share price jumped from NT$21.2 on Nov. 9 to NT$25.8 two weeks later as market speculation of a potential major shareholding purchase by Chunghwa Telecom grew.

Ho confirmed that Chunghwa Telecom had tried to submit a major proposal for investment twice, but that it was rejected on both occasions by the ministry on the ground that the proposal should have been submitted at least seven days in advance.

The proposal was finally approved by Chunghwa Telecom's shareholders on Dec. 26 and MiTAC's share price surged further to NT$29.6.

Ho said he has ordered the Department of Posts and Telecommunications to investigate the matter.

"When necessary, Hochen might be asked to provide further explanations," he said.
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