Several commentators have recently suggested that the demand by labor organizations for the government to ban “dispatched laborers” is contradictory. I have a different view.
First, in a 2008 book, entitled Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System, Raj Patel likens the global food system to an hourglass, with producers and consumers at the top and bottom respectively. The neck of the hourglass is where the power of the production-marketing system is concentrated. This controls purchase price in the place of production and market prices.
Workers producing commodities or services and consumers are at opposite ends of the hourglass. However, this idea ignores the production and marketing systems that control food prices and the power structure that controls workers’ wages.
Second, labor dispatching is a triangular relationship. Workers sign employment contracts with agencies that send them to work at companies or government agencies. Agencies sign a business contract with the company or government agency and charge a service fee. The main reason for hiring dispatched labor is to reduce labor costs and avoid responsibilities regulated by labor legislation.
There is a great difference between dispatch labor and regular workers contracted on a temporary basis at government agencies. Although contract workers are not regular civil servants, the agencies are responsible for their insurance and their safety and health in the workplace.
However, because dispatched workers have not signed a contract with the government agency, any occupational hazards and labor disputes are unrelated to that agency. In addition, since a government agency can change dispatch agencies every year, such workers are always considered new employees. The claim that if the government does not hire dispatch labor, taxpayers will pay for more civil servants with higher pay, better benefits and job security is misleading, because the government could still hire them as temporary contract workers.
Then there is the claim that, due to the nature of the bureaucracy, with its high salaries and excellent welfare provisions, efficiency and productivity are inevitably bad and, therefore, taxpayers are taken advantage of. This idea is used to question the call for the government to ban dispatch labor, but it is not a convincing argument. How can an “outsider” with no job security or labor rights have a sense of belonging and identify with the job?
Improving the administrative efficiency of the government is certainly an important issue, but improving the quality of manpower available to the government should begin with promotions and assessments. Other than lowering the cost of labor, how is the use of dispatch labor intended to improve problems inherent in the existing human resources system and enhance government efficiency?
In terms of workplace safety and health, a number of international studies suggest job insecurity, lack of democratic participation and unequal workers’ rights are key factors leading to labor fatigue in the workplace. Recently, the government has used dispatch labor as a solution to the structural unemployment problem. In an effort to reduce labor costs, it has hired many temporary dispatch workers.
In my opinion, by encouraging the employment of dispatch workers, listing labor dispatch as a key sector for future development and hiring many of these workers, the government has become a major cause of employment instability that could well lead to the deterioration of working conditions, safety and health.
Cheng Ya-wen is an associate professor at the Institute of Health Policy and Management at National Taiwan University.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
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