More than 80 former RCA Taiwan employees from the RCA Self-Help Association (RCA, 員工自救會) yesterday protested in front of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) in Taipei, demanding the US-based electronics giant take full responsibility for a high incidence of cancer among the company's employees.
The AIT, however, yesterday shut its doors and refused to receive the petitioners.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Security guards at the AIT office later agreed to hand over the petition letter to relevant officials.
The employees, accompanied by Taiwan Association for Victims of Occupational Accidents and Diseases (工作傷害受害人協會) representatives who jointly organized the petition, later turned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and recited their sufferings to officials at the ministry's North American Affairs department. A ministry official received the petition letter and promised to pass it on to relevant officials.
According to the workers, soil and ground water pollution at the RCA Taiwan plant in Taoyuan County is suspected of causing more than 1,000 cases of cancer and 157 deaths among employees. Thirty employees have died from cancer alone over the past few years.
The workers also revealed that RCA Taiwan had repeatedly dumped toxic waste into wells near the plant, which seriously polluted local groundwater.
RCA first set up its production facilities in Taiwan in 1970. The company subsequently relocated its production line and its Taiwan operations were subsequently run by GE and the French company Thompson at different times until 1992.
In February 1998, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) officially confirmed that the area where the plant located had been designated a permanently polluted zone.
According to the EPA report, even after several years of clean-up work, groundwater downstream from the plant still shows high concentrations of toxic chemicals. The EPA also confirmed that the pollution extended up to 1km from the plant.
The workers therefore made two appeals yesterday to all three companies:
First, RCA, as well as GE and Thomson, should immediately send representatives to Taiwan to look into the case.
Second, the US and French governments should closely examine the three companies' overseas investment plans. No capital increase should be approved before labor-management disputes overseas are properly solved.
The former RCA workers said they will demonstrate again on April 12 when a US-sponsored environmental protection meeting will be held in Taipei City.
WHEELING AND DEALING? Hou You-yi, Ko Wen-je, Eric Chu and Ma Ying-jeou are under investigation for allegedly offering bribes for the other side to drop out of the race Taipei prosecutors have started an investigation into allegations that four top politicians involved in attempts to form a “blue-white” presidential ticket have contravened election regulations. Listed as defendants are Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the KMT and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲). The case stemmed from judicial complaints filed last month with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office alleging that the KMT (blue) and the TPP (white) had engaged in bribery by offering money or other enticements
COUNTER DISINFORMATION: More engagement and media literacy are needed to push back against misinformation and claims that the US is an unreliable partner, the AIT director said The US is “confident” that Taiwan does not face an imminent threat of a Chinese invasion, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Sandra Oudkirk told a US public radio show, adding that Washington remains committed to defensively arming the nation. She made the comment during an interview on All Things Considered, broadcast on Friday on US-based National Public Radio. “There is an important distinction between making plans and training troops, and getting ready to do something,” Oudkirk said, on whether she thinks Beijing plans to attack Taiwan in the near future. Chinese officials have told Washington that “their preference is for peaceful reunification,
EXPOSED: Some Taipei wardens reported joining the trips out of peer pressure, while others said they were relieved it was made public so they could refuse, a city councilor said Nearly 30 percent of Taipei borough wardens have joined group tours to China that were partially funded by the Chinese government, leading prosecutors probing potential Chinese interference in January’s elections to question local officials, an investigation showed. Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City councilors Chien Shu-pei (簡舒培) and Chen E-jun (陳怡君) have reported cases of Taipei borough wardens inviting residents to join inexpensive privately organized group tours to China that were partially funded by the Chinese government. The six-day trips reportedly cost NT$10,000 to NT$15,000, the councilors said. An investigation by the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) showed that nearly 30 percent
ELIGIBLE FOR JANUARY: All presidential candidates and their running mates meet the requirements to run for office, and none hold dual citizenship, the CEC said Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator and vice presidential candidate Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈) is working with the Central Election Commission (CEC) to resolve issues with her financial disclosure statement, a spokesman for the candidate said yesterday, after the commission published the statements of all three presidential candidates and their running mates, while confirming their eligibility to run in the Jan. 13 election. Wu’s office spokesman, Chen Yu-cheng (陳宥丞), said the candidate encountered unforeseen difficulties disclosing her husband’s finances due to being suddenly thrust into the campaign. She is also the first vice presidential nominee to have a foreign spouse, complicating the reporting of
RSS