Hundreds of workers laid off by automaker Auto21 yesterday organized a “memorial service” for the company’s credit outside its headquarters in Taipei, since they are still owed salaries, retirement pensions and unemployment payouts totaling more than NT$700 million (US$24 million) after several years.
Setting up a funeral altar with a photo of Auto21 chairman Hsu Sheng-fa (許勝發) placed in the center, hundreds of the firm’s former employees, wearing white headbands with the words “give me my hard-earned money back” written on them, held a memorial service, declaring that the credibility of the company and Hsu was dead.
However, instead of paying respect to the portrait of the deceased as one would usually do at a funeral, the demonstrators threw eggs at Hsu’s photograph.
Photo: CNA
The former employees are angry because about four years ago the company declared bankruptcy and laid off as many as 1,000 employees, without paying their salaries, retirement pensions or unemployment payouts.
“The government should immediately launch a probe into the cash flow of the former Auto21 chairman, because he has appeared in the media living in a luxury apartment building, riding in luxury cars and holding luxury wedding banquets [for his granddaughter],” said Lin Kuang-yao (林光耀), a former manager at the company. “Yet he tells us that he’s broke and he evidently does not care about the suffering of his former employees — many of them have committed suicide as a result of the economic pressure they have faced.”
“My wife and I had both worked at Auto21 for more than 10 years and we both became unemployed all of a sudden,” a former employee in his 60s surnamed Yu (余) said. “We’re suffering financially, because it’s really hard for us to find another job because of our age.”
Another former employee surnamed Lo (羅), who retired four years ago just before the company declared bankruptcy, is still owed more than NT$300,000 in retirement pension.
“I am already 60 years old and am a single mother, life is hard,” she said. “I only do some temporary jobs and make minimal money. The boss should not leave us suffering while he still has so much money at his disposal.”
Lin said the former employees need help from the government and the legislature because under current laws, banks have the priority in getting repayment of debts over individuals.
“So, though Auto21 has sold its properties and equipment for a total of more than NT$10 billion over the past few years, we, the former employees, have not received even NT$1,” Lin said.
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
SOVEREIGNTY: The rigs show that Beijing ‘rejects Taiwan’s jurisdiction’ by building in areas where Taipei demands permission to build or alter installations Chinese oil rigs have been sighted just 26 nautical miles (42km), from Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙島), posing a threat to Taiwan’s sovereignty if left unchallenged, a brief published by the Jamestown Foundation on Tuesday said. Pratas Island, 444km from Kaohsiung, is northeast of the South China Sea and houses a Taiwanese garrison. The brief, titled “Rigging the Game: PRC Oil Structures Encroach on Taiwan’s Pratas Island” — referring to the People’s Republic of China — analyzed photographs and said that Beijing’s tools to pressure Taiwan now include oil rigs. “Oil rigs now constitute part of Beijing’s
The Taiwan Experience Education Program (TEEP) has funded short-term internships in Taiwan for more than 4,500 young people from more than 40 countries since 2015, with the goal of attracting and retaining international talent, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. Fifty-five colleges launched 514 projects this year, including in fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, medicine and biotechnology, green energy, and sustainability, it said. The program provides research and practical internships in Taiwan for two to six months, and offers cultural exchange and networking opportunities, the ministry said. For example, National Formosa University’s Embedded System and Autopilot Laboratory developed two solar-powered drones in
RSS