Civil groups and scores of migrant fishermen rallied in front of the Ministry of Labor headquarters in Taipei yesterday, saying their employers have improperly docked money from their salaries and comparing their working conditions to slavery.
Protesters and migrant fishermen, mostly Filipinos, performed a skit and shouted slogans in different languages, demanding free accommodation and direct payment of salaries for migrant fishermen.
Taiwan International Workers’ Association researcher Wu Jing-ru (吳靜如) said many migrant fishermen have NT$5,000 deducted from their pay per month for onboard accommodation, as employers are allowed to provide lodging or other benefits worth up to NT$5,000 in lieu of the full minimum wage, according to the Labor Standards Act (勞基法).
Photo: CNA
The onboard lodging is not worth the money, but migrant workers — who usually earn the minimum wage — have to pay for it as well as brokerage fees, making their real wage much lower than the minimum, Wu said.
A Filipino fisherman using the name Joel said he could not sleep in the fishing boat he works on because the crew’s cabin is too hot and noisy due to its proximity to the engine, forcing him to sleep on a makeshift bed of cardboard on deck.
During a six-day layover due to a typhoon, he and another crew member were given only NT$500 for dining expenses, and they had to pick fruit on a nearby mountain to survive, Joel said.
Another fisherman, who gave his name as Joeril, said his captain limits water use and does not allow crew to do laundry onboard, while giving them only rice porridge for breakfast.
Wu said that human resource agencies often concoct various excuses to deduct migrant fishermen’s salaries, such as exacting brokerage fees, but listing the payment as “mortgage,” and forcing workers to sign a “mortgage contract” with the agencies’ subsidiaries registered in migrant workers’ countries of origin.
The ministry has been negligent by failing to conduct any inspections over such practices, Wu said, adding that it claims that the docking of pay — as it is a “mortgage” made between foreign workers and foreign-registered firms — is regulated by the labor exporting nation, instead of recognizing the practice as a breach of the act.
According to the ministry’s Foreign Workers Living and Caring Service Planning Book (外國人生活照顧服務計畫書), employers of migrant workers are required to provide accommodation that meets the workers’ needs, but the ministry has failed to ensure the implementation of the rule, Wu said.
Vietnamese Catholic priest Peter Nguyen Van Hung said that Vietnamese migrant fishermen faced a similar plight before they were blocked from working in Taiwan in 2004, with the situation remaining unchanged for years.
Ministry Senior Executive Officer Hou Song-yen (侯松延), who accepted the protesters’ petition, said it is legally permissible for employers to provide accommodation in lieu of payment, but added that the ministry would look into the protesters’ claims to determine whether there is any illegal activity going on.
The ministry is yet to conduct an inspection of the fishing industry due to its unique working patterns, Hou said, adding that it is the Fisheries Agency’s duty to inspect working conditions of fishing vessels operating outside Taiwan’s territorial waters.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS