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.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS