The Taiwanese edition of defunct Hong Kong newspaper the Apple Daily and its unionized workers on Friday failed to reach an agreement in their fourth round of negotiations over layoffs of 333 employees.
Ahead of the negotiations, the newspaper told the workers that it would lay off another 147 employees at the end of next month, the Apple Daily Union said.
The Taipei Department of Labor, which mediated the talks, urged the two sides to continue negotiations, saying that the rights of those who lost their jobs must be protected.
The newspaper, whose owner, Next Digital, has been under pressure due to a clampdown on press freedom in Hong Kong, in the middle of May ceased its Taiwanese print edition and laid off 333 workers, citing operational losses.
The union condemned the layoffs, saying that the newspaper used the closure of its print edition as an excuse to lay off many of its senior employees.
On May 15, the union said that the newspaper did not hold negotiations with its workers ahead of announcing the move, accusing it of contravening the Act for Worker Protection of Mass Redundancy (大量解僱勞工保護法).
The law requires firms over a certain size to inform labor authorities 60 days before larger layoffs, the union said, adding that the labor department had intervened because of the breach, which carries fines of up to NT$500,000.
On Friday, the union said that it was not “understandable” that another 147 workers would be laid off so shortly after the newspaper reduced staff significantly in May.
It only learned of the plan hours before negotiations over the earlier layoffs began, it said.
The newspaper did not immediately respond to the union’s statement.
The newspaper was founded in 2003 by media tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英), who has been jailed in Hong Kong for organizing “unauthorized assemblies” and is facing other charges.
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