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.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS