Wed, Sep 08, 1999 page2

• CLA responds to Mailiao riot

  PUNITIVE MEASURES The CLA has proposed a three-month investigation of work sites employing foreign workers, and will take direct action in sending home workers responsible for initiating unrest

  • By Monique Chu / STAFF REPORTER
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  The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) yesterday announced it plans to suspend new applications for foreign labor imports by Formosa Plastics Group in the wake of the this week's riots.

  Hundreds of Thai and Filipino laborers fought with rocks, pipes and gasoline bombs during an eight-hour long clash at the group's Sixth Naphtha Cracker site in Mailiao, Yunlin County until early Monday morning.

  In response to the incident, CLA officials said yesterday the riot had disrupted social stability and Formosa Plastics Group -- employer of these guest workers -- had violated related regulations set forth by the Employment Service Act.

  Chang Chun-chi (張昌吉), CLA vice chairman, said the council has decided to take punitive measures.

  "Until the complex improves its management of foreign workers, the door for Formosa's application for foreign labor import is closed," he said.

  Three Filipino workers found directly responsible for initiating the fight were deported Monday afternoon after the CLA revoked their work permits, citing violations of the Employment Service Act, Chang added.

  While the CLA officials investigating the riot returned from Mailiao yesterday, results of the investigation will not be made available to the public until a written report is produced, Chang added.

  In dealing with the aftermath of the case, CLA officials said the council would enforce relevant laws to prevent similar clashes from happening.

  One of the suggested measures is to launch a three-month inspection into workplaces where foreign workers are hired, to check whether employers have by law recruited enough manpower to supervise these guest workers.

  According to regulations, violators can face a variety of punishments, including cancellation of their foreign labor import permission.

  Critics voiced various opinions on the CLA's measures.

  Cheng Chih-yu (成之約), a professor at the Institute for Labor Research at National Chengchi University, said although he agreed with the CLA's measures, "it's vital for the CLA to supervise employers to abide by related rules in managing foreign workers."

  "For employers, they normally try to minimize their cost in managing foreign workers. But the CLA has to keep an eye on these firms very closely. Otherwise it's difficult to prevent similar clashes from occurring," he said.

  DPP Legislator Chien Hsi-chieh went further, suggesting a more "humane" method to the management of foreign workers.

  "In places like Formosa's Mailiao complex, where more than 18,000 foreign workers are employed, social workers should be available to attend to the psychological needs of these workers," he said.

  While many responded passively to the "panacea" approach suggested by the CLA, one professor, Liu Chin-hsin (劉進興), of the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, and a former DPP legislator with a long history as a veteran labor movement activist, dismissed the council's approach.

  "The CLA's measures are useless. If we continue to treat foreign workers as second-rate people in our society -- by keeping them in confined spaces, similar riots will still be unavoidable," Liu said.

  He said a better solution is to reduce the import of foreign workers.

  "Otherwise, while foreign labor imports to the island help big firms reduce costs, it is our society that is paying the price when such clashes break out," he added.
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