The government would not accept the one-sided terms introduced by the Indonesian government aimed at compelling Taiwanese employers to shoulder the costs incurred by some migrant workers before they leave to work abroad, the Ministry of Labor said yesterday.
The Indonesian Economic and Trade Office to Taipei on Wednesday sent a letter to the ministry stating that as of Jan. 1, Taiwanese employers would be required to pay 11 types of fees for Indonesian workers before they depart for Taiwan, Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) said before a meeting at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
These include airline tickets, passport/visa fees and the costs incurred by labor brokerages in Indonesia for caregivers, domestic workers and fishers, she said.
However, the letter did not provide detailed information or clearly state how much employers would need to pay when the new terms come into force, Hsu said.
The Ministry of Labor would seek clarification, and remind Indonesia that under bilateral agreements, any changes to prior agreements need to be discussed by both countries, she said.
“If the Indonesian government implements the measures after only a unilateral notification, the Ministry of Labor would not accept it,” Hsu said.
Migrant workers and workers’ rights groups have long complained that employers do not help with any of the pre-employment costs incurred by such workers, but brokers are allowed to collect fees from them, so many workers go into debt to be able to cover the costs of obtaining a contract and visa to work overseas.
Last month the Taiwan International Worker-Employment Relations Harmony Development Association held a rally outside the Indonesian trade office.
The association, made up of many disabled people or family members of those who need care, said that they feared the cost of hiring caregivers would skyrocket if the new fees are implemented and they would not be able to afford to hire migrant caregivers.
The rally was to protest the demands made of Taiwanese employers by the Indonesian government, said Chen Shan-hsiu (陳善修), one of the demonstrators.
Protesters brandished banners and signs that read “Say NO to Indonesian Migrant Workers,” and chanted slogans calling for the Indonesian government to get out of Taiwan.
When asked by reporters who would fill the labor gap if Taiwan decided to stop importing Indonesian workers, Chen said that the government could turn to other Asian countries such as Nepal.
However, the protesters’ signs and slogans angered many in the Indonesian migrant community, with several leaders calling for caregivers and domestic workers to do only the work detailed in their contracts and refuse anything more than that.
Migrants have been urged to change their photographs on social media to an image of a Taiwanese woman breaking down in tears, with the slogan “Say no to work outside the job” as part of an effort to draw attention to the fact that many Indonesian workers are often required to do non-contract work by their employers.
For example, many caregivers are hired to take care of a single patient, but are often told they must do extra work such as cleaning houses, offices and vehicles, said Fajar, an Indonesian community leader affiliated with the Hsinchu Migrant-Immigrant Service Center and Taiwan International Workers Association.
Lennon Ying-dah Wong (汪英達), director of a service center and shelter for migrant workers under the Serve the People Association in Taoyuan, said that it would be extremely difficult to replace the more than 265,000 workers from Indonesia with people from other countries in just a few months.
He urged Taiwanese employers to try and understand the plight of migrant workers and that many have gone into debt because of large and exorbitant broker fees.
As of the end of September, there were 265,553 Indonesian migrant workers in Taiwan, with 194,254 employed in social welfare work, such as caregivers and domestics.
MILITARY BOOST: The procurement was planned after Washington recommended that Taiwan increase its stock of air defense missiles, a defense official said yesterday Taiwan is planning to order an additional four PAC-3 MSE systems and up to 500 missiles in response to an increasing number of missile sites on China’s east coast, a defense official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the proposed order would be placed using the defense procurement special budget, adding that about NT$1 trillion (US$32,88 billion) has been allocated for the budget. The proposed acquisition would include launchers, missiles, and a lower tier air and missile defense radar system, they said The procurement was planned after the US military recommended that Taiwan increase
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
TWO HEAVYWEIGHTS: Trump and Xi respect each other, are in a unique position to do something great, and they want to do that together, the US envoy to China said The administration of US President Donald Trump has told Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) “we don’t want any coercion, but we want [the Taiwan dispute] resolved peacefully,” US ambassador to China David Perdue said in a TV interview on Thursday. Trump “has said very clearly, we are not changing the ‘one China’ policy, we are going to adhere to the Taiwan Relations Act, the three communiques and the ‘six assurances’ that were done under [former US president Ronald] Reagan,” Perdue told Joe Kernen, cohost of CNBC’s Squawk Box. The act, the Three Joint Communiques and the “six assurances” are guidelines for Washington
DEEPENING TIES: The two are boosting cooperation in response to China’s coercive actions and have signed MOUs on search-and-rescue and anti-smuggling efforts Taiwan and Japan are moving to normalize joint coast guard training and considering the inclusion of other allies, the Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. Both nations’ coast guards in June sent vessels to the seas south of the Sakishima Islands to conduct joint training, the report said, adding that it was the second joint maritime training exercise since the nations severed formal diplomatic ties in September 1972. Japan dispatched the Nagoya Coast Guard’s Mizuho, a 134m, 6,000-tonne patrol vessel which can carry a helicopter, while the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sent the 126m, 4,000-tonne Yunlin, one of its largest vessels, the report
RSS