The Ministry of Labor yesterday offered NT$426 million (US$14 million) to former Hualon Corp employees — who have been fighting for years to reclaim their unpaid pensions — utilizing donations procured from banks and other creditors of the bankrupt textiles manufacturer.
Minister of Labor Chen Hsiung-wen (陳雄文) said the donations would provide the retired workers with about NT$400,000 each, amounting to about half of their unpaid pensions. If carried out smoothly, the offer could be completed by February next year, Chen added.
Hualon Self-Help Organization president Lee Tsui-ming (李翠明) refused to accept the offer, saying that it falls short of the full compensation the organization is demanding.
Halfway through the press conference, several former Hualon workers and a group of student activists protested, before being swiftly removed by police.
The workers retired about a decade ago and are owed an average of NT$1 million each in unpaid pensions, while a court auction of Hualon’s assets in August provided them with less than NT$3,000 each in compensation.
Headed by Mega Bank and Aegon Life Insurance, 18 creditors have agreed to donate 20 percent of the NT$2.4 billion they received from the court auction, on the condition that the workers withdraw their lawsuit.
The same scheme could be employed next year, when a final piece of real estate formerly owned by the company in Miaoli’s Toufen Township (頭份) is scheduled for court auction, the minister said.
Chen said the ministry would pay the unpaid pensions of all 1,058 former workers involved in the Hualon case, while the Hualon Self-Help Organization is demanding that its 336 members are prioritized.
Hsu Ren-yuan (徐任遠), a student activist and secretary at the organization, told the Taipei Times: “Our demands have been the same all along. All the workers deserve 100 percent compensation.”
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