Smartphone maker HTC Corp has co-opted the company’s unions, campaigners from the Taoyuan Confederation of Trade Unions said yesterday, accusing the unions of failing to protect workers’ rights in the face of company layoffs.
“The Taoyuan Department of Labor has no idea whether [the unions] are operating normally because they have not received any notification of board meetings, much less meeting agendas or minutes,” Taoyuan Confederation of Trade Unions chairman Chuang Fu-kai (莊福凱) said.
The Labor Union Act (工會法) requires unions to file meeting records and financial reports with their local labor department, he said.
Photo: CNA
Activists yesterday protested outside of HTC’s Taoyuan factory against the company’s decision to lay off 15 percent of its Taiwanese workforce, saying that the company had been profitable almost every year since 2005 and made NT$1.4 billion (US$42.73 million) in profits last year.
HTC had pressured workers to “voluntarily” resign to avoid paying severance pay, while requiring workers receiving severance pay to sign non-disclosure agreements, Chuang said, adding that when 30 workers sought union support to protect their rights, they were unable to get in touch with union representatives.
The unions also failed to initiate talks with management about the layoffs, as mandated by the Act for Worker Protection of Mass Redundancy (大量解僱勞工保護法), he said.
The chairman of one of the unions’ boards works as a lawyer for HTC, while the union membership fee of NT$5,000 is double that normally charged, Chuang said.
Because of the unions that currently exist, any new union organized by factory workers would not be eligible for official recognition, he said, adding that HTC must drop its “grip” on company unions.
Activists demanded a public explanation from the company unions about their response to the layoffs, and urged the unions to initiate talks with HTC management.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS