Former employees of the South Korean plasma display manufacturer Hydis and their Taiwanese supporters attempted to march to the official presidential residence in Taipei late on Wednesday night to deliver a petition, but were blocked by a police barricade.
Taiwan’s E Ink Holdings (EIH) — an affiliate of the Yeung Foong Yu Group — has been gradually laying off many Hydis workers after acquiring the firm in 2008. It announced the closure of two plants last year after chronic losses.
Former employees taking part in Wednesday’s march were part of a fifth wave of laid-off South Koreans who have traveled to Taiwan to demand the reversal of the plant closures and lay-offs.
Photo: CNA
“This issue is not just something between the firm and the company — the [Taiwanese] government also has responsibility because the closures are the result of liberal economic policies allowing the free movement of capital,” Taiwan International Workers’ Association member Hsu Wei-tung (許惟棟) said.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) should help mediate the dispute, Hsu said.
More than a dozen people holding candles took part in the march, which turned into an impromptu two-hour rally in front of the Ministry of Finance after police blocked them from nearing Tsai’s residence.
“Other than halting factory shutdowns, our objective this time is to force a reopening of negotiations, which were halted by the firm in September,” protest leader Park Jai-Tne (朴珍泰) said, adding that the firm had sealed off one factory and begun to sell its equipment.
Other former Hydis employees have been blacklisted from entering Taiwan after being arrested and deported on charges of violating the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法).
Hsu said Tsai’s administration has continued to maintain the blacklist, so new protesters are coming from South Korea from different divisions of Hydis.
In related news, labor and human rights campaigners yesterday protested in front of the Taiwan High Court in Taipei, demanding that prosecutors drop charges against three Taiwanese for interfering with the execution of public duties in connection with the protests against Hydis.
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