The governments of Taiwan and the Philippines should cut out labor brokers and take direct responsibility for the placement and protection of migrant workers, a Philippine labor activist said in Taipei yesterday.
“The brokers’ fee system should be junked because it’s useless — brokers will not help us if we run into problems,” Gilda Banugan, the chairperson of the Taiwanese branch of Migrante International, a Philippine political party which advocates for migrant worker rights, told the Taipei Times.
Brokers often put pressure on domestic workers to stick with their employers, even when they face physical abuse or sexual harassment, taking advantage of the fact that many workers do not speak Mandarin and do not know where else to turn, Banugan said.
“Agencies are supposed to be the ones who process our problems and complaints if we run into trouble, but you ask for help, they threaten to send you back to the Philippines — so we’re not safe,” she said.
It is also common for brokers to charge illegal fees and make “bait-and-switch” changes in the employers offered after workers arrive in Taiwan.
While Philippine law mandates that brokers should not charge more than one month worth of a worker’s salary in fees, government officials in Taiwan have proven unwilling to enforce the restriction by prosecuting labor brokers, she said.
It is common for brokers to charge migrant workers up to NT$100,000 in fees and interest over the course of a three-year contract.
Wages for migrants employed as domestic workers are set at NT$17,000 per month by the Ministry of Labor, with employers obligated to provide their workers with room and board.
However, workers who have been abused by their assigned employers are charged more than NT$9,000 a month for room and board if they leave their employer’s residence to live in broker-provided dormitories, with no guarantee that they will find a new position, she said.
Migrant workers should be included in the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) and the governments of the two nations should take direct responsibility for arranging and managing migrant worker placements.
Banugan was interviewed after a Migrante-sponsored dance rally was held on Sunday outside the Won Won Building on Zhongshan N Road near Saint Christopher’s Catholic Church.
The location of this year’s rally — held to back demands to improve the working conditions of migrant workers — reflected a stronger Philippine influence.
Last year’s rally was held at Taipei Main Station to make it convenient for Indonesian workers, while this year’s event was held in the “Little Manila” area to help Migrante stump for votes in May 9 Philippine general elections, Banugan said.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
RSS