The National Taiwan Museum has dragged its feet compensating contract workers for long unpaid back wages, labor rights advocates said on Monday, voicing doubts about the museum’s promises to pay in the wake of a court ruling.
“This has already dragged on for too long and the legal basis for the museum’s promise is unclear because it was always in a position to pay the back wages,” Workers’ Vanguard director Lin Yi-chih (林奕志) said.
The museum hired the workers early last year through Mansion Housekeeping and Cleaning Inc, only to see the firm delay salary payments and underpay the workers’ National Labor Insurance contributions, Lin said.
Lin said that the museum dragged its feet in addressing the company’s actions, refusing to represent the workers when they sought compensation from the firm and waiting eight months before applying to have it blacklisted.
It did transfer the workers to a different contractor in August last year, but has refused to use the Mansion Housekeeping’s security deposit to pay the workers what they are owed, he said.
“The reality is that the National Taiwan Museum was responsible for directing and supervising the workers, even though there was the formality of an outside contract,” Lin said.
“The museum should take on the responsibilities of a formal employer because it has acted like one,” Lin said.
The museum has long had a policy of using temp agencies to hire workers, even though some of those people have ended up working at the museum for years, Lin said.
A woman surnamed Chen (陳) said that the museum had yet to set out a specific timeline to pay the back wages, despite the workers winning their lawsuit against Mansion Housekeeping at the Taipei District Court.
“We have not received formal notification from the court, but we will turn over the funds as soon as the money is received,” National Taiwan Museum collection management section head Fang Chien-neng (方建能) said.
The museum’s lawyers had advised it not to represent workers in their compensation bid, Fang said.
Museum officials have said that its contract lacked provisions allowing it to seek compensation directly on behalf of the workers.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
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
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS