Migrant worker advocacy groups yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Labor in Taipei, calling on the government to abolish work-term limits for blue-collar migrant workers.
Speaking to reporters during the protest, the Serikat Buruh Industri Perawatan Taiwan (SBIPT), a union of Indonesian caregivers working for Taiwanese families and nursing homes, urged the government to “recognize the long-term contributions of blue-collar migrant workers, eliminate unreasonable term limits, and end systemic discrimination and exploitation.”
The SBIPT said that since the Employment Service Act (就業服務法) was enacted in May 1992, blue-collar migrant workers’ stays in Taiwan have been capped at 12 years. Although caregivers can extend their stay to up to 14 years by meeting certain point-based evaluation criteria, such limits should be eliminated altogether, it said.
Photo: CNA
The government launched a program in April 2022 to retain foreign mid-level technical workers, but the quota allocation and qualification processes are almost entirely controlled by employers, leaving migrant workers with no bargaining power, it said, adding that brokerage agencies exploit the system by charging high fees, increasing the burden on workers who wish to extend their stay.
Taiwan has ratified international conventions, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and should therefore uphold the spirit of these agreements, it said.
As of November last year, there were 395,473 female migrant workers in Taiwan, 227,309 of whom were live-in caregivers or helpers, the Central News Agency reported on Jan. 27.
Also speaking at yesterday’s protest, the Taiwan International Workers’ Association (TIWA) said that the demand for migrant labor in Taiwan continues to rise, adding that there were 820,000 migrant workers in the nation as of March.
“The government must face the reality that migrant workers are no longer merely supplementary labor,” it said. “They are a vital force supporting long-term care services, and the industries that rely on dirty, difficult and dangerous manual labor.”
The groups presented three main demands at the protest: The government should unconditionally abolish work term limits for blue-collar migrant workers; reform the processes for retaining mid-level skilled workers to ensure fairness, transparency and the protection of workers’ rights; and replace the broker system entirely with a direct hiring mechanism.
The ministry responded that it is open to hearing opinions from all sectors and would continue to review the mid-level skilled labor system and protections of migrant workers’ rights.
However, extending or abolishing migrant workers’ term limits could result in experienced workers remaining in Taiwan long-term without being able to change their residency status, it said, adding that this might create obstacles for Taiwan’s skilled immigration framework, and could harm labor rights and national talent retention efforts.
Citing an example of efforts to protect workers’ rights, the ministry said that if a migrant worker is reclassified as a mid-level skilled worker, but the employer fails to pay the agreed salary or pays below the minimum standard, authorities would impose penalties and restrict future applications from the employer.
Migrant workers in such cases would also be allowed to switch employers and receive assistance for job-matching from public employment centers, it said.
As of the end of last month, 46,000 experienced migrant workers had been reclassified as foreign mid-level skilled workers under the talent retention program introduced in 2022, accounting for an average increase of more than 10,000 workers annually, it said.
The government would continue to review job categories, allocation ratios, qualifications, and eligibility criteria for mid-level skilled positions, gradually expanding the program’s role and improving policies, it added.
To promote direct hiring, the ministry said it introduced a “direct hiring service improvement plan” in July last year, through which it is working to enhance services related to hiring migrant workers.
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