Wed, Oct 27, 1999 page2

• Job losses add to quake trauma

  UNEMPLOYMENT Businesses that have been forced to close must follow labor regulations, union leaders say

  • By Yu Sen-lun / STAFF REPORTER
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  With hundreds of companies and factory buildings collapsed or facing temporary or permanent closure after the recent earthquake, workers' wages, or their severance and retirement payments, have been ignored by management, union delegates from Taichung and Nantou claim.

  According to new statistics from the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (主-p3B), 194,000 laborers' jobs were affected by earthquake-related damage. Of these, 40,000 people have actually lost their jobs. This figure has been estimated by the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) based on the number of applicants for the Jobs for Relief (以?u代賑) program. So far, the program has received 53,000 applications.

  According to statistics provided by local governments, in the worst-hit areas of Nantou and Taichung counties, 131 business premises collapsed and 270 were partially damaged.

  Taiwan Film Culture Corporation (TFCC, 台灣1q影???膝q) in Wufeng Township (霧峰鄉), Tai-chung County, was one of the companies wiped out.

  The government-owned corporation was scheduled to be privatized at the end of the year, but as the 921 quake destroyed most of its buildings, the supervising body, the Government Information Office, decided to terminate the operation.

  "We all supported the privatization scheme, but now we are forced to leave our jobs," said Chang Jen-ho (張?祟M), a company director and also a union official at the TFCC. Chang said workers should be offered a compensation payment valued at six month's salary, according to the Privatization Act (?蝗蝔こ~民營?き屭?/CHINESE>).

  "We [the union] understand that the business of the company could not go on under such circumstances. All we demand is a reasonable payment so we can look for new jobs," Chang said.

  Huang Ping-yang (黃秉洋), a director of the Nantou Trade Union, told another story of workers left unpaid.

  He said 30 of the hotels in Nantou's main tourist spots were damaged to various extents, and some of them had started to dismiss their employees.

  In the worst case, Huang said, workers were forced to sign letters of resignation by their employers, making them ineligible for severance or retirement payment. This was clearly a severe violation of workers' rights, he said.

  Labor groups said the government should take special measures to help unemployed workers.

  The government should compensate workers who are entitled to severance pay from their employers, and then reclaim the money from employers, said Tsai Wan-hsiang (1/22萬2?, convener of the National Industrial Union Preparation Conference (?thorn>國2ㄦ~總?u會籌3こ|).

  In response, Council of Labor Affairs officials said they would implement an overall inspection of workplaces in the disaster areas.

  "For businesses which have partially collapsed, we can offer a subsidy for hiring more employ-ees. For those businesses which are no longer operating, we would make sure all entitled payments were made to employees," said Chen Shion-shen (3砝虌?/CHINESE>), director of labor management relations under the council.

  Chen said those who had lost their jobs without severance payment may apply to the council's new subsidy project, the Laborer's Rights Fund (3?u權益基金).

  Serving as an emergency subsidy to support the unemployed, the fund will be set up with between NT$500 million and NT$1 billion, to be drawn from the NT$8 billion Employment Security Fund (就業|w定基金). The project will take effect in November, said Chen.
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