Wed, Jan 01, 2020 page8

• EDITORIAL: Discrimination against pregnancy

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  Taiwan’s shameful treatment of migrant workers continues to make international headlines, the most recent being a Thomson Reuters Foundation report last week that pregnant workers often face a choice between getting fired and an abortion.

  The woman featured in the story chose abortion, since losing her job would mean she had to pay her own ticket home and a contract termination fee, while also being in debt for placement fees to her broker. Moreover, she had to pay back a New Year hongbao (紅包, red envelope containing money) to her employer.

  Of course, this is illegal in Taiwan, but migrant workers are often under the thumb of unscrupulous brokers who do not inform them of their rights and usually side with employers.

  And as the article said: “Enforcement is inconsistent at best.”

  The brokers know the system in and out, and how to get away with it. They remain the biggest problem in the mistreatment of migrant workers that has become a blight on Taiwan’s human rights record, and is the reason why there have been protests calling for the abolition of the broker system.

  There are good brokers, and they do make the process for employers and workers much easier, but something needs to be done so that the bad ones do not run unchecked like this.

  The government’s direct-hiring program is pretty much useless, as it is too much of a hassle for employers; it is the broker system that needs to be fixed directly.

  Unfortunately, that would just address the financial and legal issues, as workplace discrimination against pregnant women is not limited to migrant workers.

  As a Taipei Times report in March said: “Sexist stereotypes that women are more well-suited to domesticity and that their work performance will suffer after they get married or have a child can result in employers taking matters into their own hands, by withholding professional opportunities, promotions and mentorship.”

  A Ministry of Labor report in August last year showed that half of its workplace gender discrimination cases that year were related to pregnancy discrimination — namely, firing women for seemingly unrelated “performance” issues or moving them to a position they were not suited for in hopes that they quit voluntarily. These are just the cases that have been reported, and the circumstances definitely contribute to Taiwan’s low birthrate.

  On a related note, there have been a few atrocious remarks regarding pregnancy among the many bizarrely misogynistic comments political campaigners have made in the lead-up to the Jan. 11 presidential and legislative elections. The latest offender is Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘).

  While campaigning for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative candidate Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) on Friday last week, Gou said that Yang’s independent opponent, Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸), only cared about getting married and giving birth since she was elected as a lawmaker in 2016. Gou is a business owner with hundreds of thousands of employees, and this is not acceptable given the circumstances described above.

  The sexist remarks from the KMT camp have not stopped despite a public backlash, and it is clear that these “slips of tongues” are intentionally malicious and they have not understood the message. How will society respect pregnant women, or women in general, if the nation’s leaders keep making such comments?

  Negative campaigning is one thing, but it should be about concrete things like political blunders or questionable ethics, not gender. There are still 10 days until the elections and this must stop right now.
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