Supporters call for policy review after Thais counter sue company

This article was written by June Tsai and published by the Taiwan Journal on April 7, 2006. It reports that a recent riot by Thai workers in southern Taiwan's Kaohsiung City in August 2005 opened the public's eyes to the often-appalling conditions under which the foreign workers are employed. These foreign workers do the jobs that Taiwanese find too demeaning, too dirty or too dangerous to take, particularly for as low a wage. Although the incident has now settled, it has confronted some of the prejudices long existing in Taiwanese society. The incident has also highlighted some of the problems within the foreign worker system in Taiwan.

On August 21, 2005, about 300 Thai workers employed as manual labor on Kaohsiung City's subway system held a riot to protest their ill treatment and poor living conditions. During the riot, the Thai workers set fire to management offices and cars, broke windows and threw rocks and bottles at the riot police. The Thai workers had 16 demands, including the lift of a ban on the use of alcohol and mobile phones, the provision of Thai-language television and payment for any overtime work. The riot ended after the management company agreed to most of the Thai workers' demands in a negotiation that involved the police, the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp. (which handles the construction of the subway system) and members of Thailand's representative office in Taiwan.

After the riot, the media in Taiwan frequently reported on how Taiwan's foreign workers are treated. In the case of the Thai workers in Kaohsiung City, it was reported that the management company had been cutting costs by providing substandard food and cramped living conditions to the workers. The company had also instituted a "company store" system that issued coupons for the workers to use in the company-owned shop. It then prohibited the workers to buy food and daily necessities from anywhere else. According to the Thai workers, the company often short-changed them when they tried to exchange the coupons for real money. Meanwhile, the company paid only 46 hours out of every 100 hours of overtime labor the workers actually did.

An investigation conducted by the Council of Agriculture found that the management company's "mismanagement of foreign workers, violations in working conditions and labor rights and hygiene deficiencies" were to blame for the riots. The company was fined approximately US$45,500 for operating without a licence. Criminal charges were also laid against the rioters, who were in danger of being deported. In the end, the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp. took over the management of the dormitory camp that housed the foreign workers.

On March 26, 2006, it was revealed that the management company was suing 14 of the Thai workers who took part in the riot. The company was looking to recoup its looses, which it set at US$596,000, and was suing for damages caused by the violent protect in August 2005.

Five of the 14 Thai workers, along with various Taiwanese legislators, academics and members of the Taiwan International Workers' Association and the Judicial Reform Foundation, announced that they would file a counter suit against the management company. So far, the central government and the Kaohsiung City Government are standing on the side of the Thai workers. Officials said that the management had inflicted harm upon the workers with maltreatment and violations of workers rights, and that the lawsuit only added insult to injury, not just to the Thai workers, but to Taiwan's reputation.

Facing the public's condemnation and negative opinion, the management company lowered the sum of compensation it was seeking to a symbolic US$0.43. Attorneys representing the company said that the company did not think it was responsible for abusing the Thai workers, and that it wanted the truth to be known by making its case and rectifying its name.

In general, scholars and labor affairs experts suggested that the government should improve current laws governing the employment of foreign workers. According to them, allowing foreign workers to change employers is one way to prevent workers from seeking radical solutions, such as staging a riot. Taiwan's current law, which forces employees to stay with one employer or face deportation, produces an unequal relationship between employer and employee. It also deprives workers of their basic right to organize and negotiate collectively.

Meanwhile, the government is urged to create a channel of communication through which foreign workers can make complaints and have their grievances addressed in a lawful way. The Taiwanese society as a whole is urged to show more consideration and respect for the basic human rights of foreign workers and other hired domestic helpers.