Immigrant domestic helpers, caregivers and activists gathered in front of the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) yesterday to present a petition calling for their inclusion in the Labor Standards Law (勞動基準法).
Because home workers, such as caregivers for the elderly and children, are not covered by the Labor Standards Law, neither foreign nor Taiwanese home workers would see their wages affected by the expected minimum wage hike.
This is unfair, said advocates from the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants, Migrant International and others yesterday.
"Home workers are expected to work like robots whenever they are needed and at all hours," said Wong Ying-dah (汪英達) of the Taiwan Migrants' Forum. "Yet their rights are unprotected due to their exclusion from the Labor Standards Law."
No officials were on hand to accept the petition because it dealt with a known issue that the group had already informed the Council about in advance, CLA official Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) told the Taipei Times by phone yesterday. Tsai is in charge of foreign labor issues at the CLA's Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training.
Tsai said that the reason the Labor Standards Law is not applicable to caregivers and domestic helpers is because they do not follow a standard workday.
"Nobody would be able to afford caretakers if they had to pay them overtime," Tsai said.
"However, the CLA is looking into ways to protect the rights of these workers," he said. "Partial inclusion in the Labor Standards Law or enacting a separate law are possible solutions."
About 20 to 30 workers and activists were present in front of the CLA building yesterday. Migrant workers at the gathering would speak only on the condition of anonymity.
"They are afraid that speaking out in public might be grounds for being expelled from the country," said Shih Hsin University assistant professor Chen Hsin-hsing (陳信行), one of the participants at the protest.
A female foreign laborer who declined to be named said: "We are at the mercy of our employers until we are protected by the law."
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS