Workers protest for a day off
More than a thousand workers from Southeast Asia marched through the streets of Taipei today. The march had the slogan “Still no day off” (還沒休假), calling on the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) to ensure that workers have one day off per week. Taiwan has more than 300,000 migrant workers from Southeast Asia.
The protest is a biennial event which began in 2003 and is held near the date of Human Rights Day. Foreign workers organisations participating in the event included Taiwan International Workers Association (TIWA), Migrants Empowerment Network in Taiwan (MENT), Migrante and church groups. There were also a number of Taiwanese NGOs such as the Green Party, COSWAS and the Gender/Sexuality Rights Association there in support.
The situation of domestic workers was highlighted. Foreign workers hired to do domestic work receive a minimum salary of NT$15,840 compared to the minimum basic wage in Taiwan of NT$17,280. These workers are often on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Another group arguing for their rights were the “stateless Chinese”. These people hold ROC passports but don’t have an ID card in Taiwan and are denied some of the rights available to Taiwanese citizens. A man from the group told me there are about 1,800 people in this situation who were originally from the Philippines.
The march came to an end at the CLA office in Yanping North Road. The large crowd sat on the plaza in front of the office to listen to speeches. With workers from the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand participating announcements and the shouting of slogans came in a multitude of languages. However, they all spoke with one voice on the issue of demanding better rights for migrant workers in Taiwan.
*More photos in the workers protest for a day off set at flickr.
Thai workers protest
Foreign workers raise their voice
No justice
The slavery continues
Taiwan is no better than China
Posted: December 13th, 2009 under Human rights, News & media, Taipei City, Taiwan.
Comments
Pingback from March for Migrant Workers’ Rights | Darren Melrose Photography
Time 14 December 2009 at 1:31 am
[...] Unfortunately, I had to get back home before the march ended, though I do hope all went well. I would like to say a special thanks to David for allowing me to tag along today. Please check out his take on things here. [...]
Pingback from Shashwati’s Blog » Blog Archive » Immigrant Worker’s Rights in Taiwan 2009
Time 14 December 2009 at 4:54 pm
[...] yesterday in Taipei. The theme this year was domestic workers, who want the right to a day off. David on Formosa has a blog post about the march and immigrant workers in [...]
Comment from fvarga
Time 13 December 2009 at 9:57 pm
David,
No questions from you about the picture before the last one in your post?
They hold a ROC passport (as far as I know, it means a “Taiwanese” passport, even though ROC is not equal to Taiwan, again, as far as I know) and they wrote “Stateless Chinese”.
Quite funny (strange), isn’t it?
I believe you got my point…
Beside, holding a passport is not a proof of nationality. That’s a fact everywhere in the world, normally, when the country provides beside the passport an ID card, as for example in Taiwan or… in France.
More precisely, Nationality and Passport are two different stories.
Most of the people ignore that simple fact.
Anyway, your report is (as always) very good.
Ma (according his words) is willing to bring human rights at the law level in Taiwan. Will he take care about this subject?
This “brokers” way in Taiwan is not more than slavery’s stuff. But you know how most of the Taiwanese are thinking about Indonesia, Vietnam… Just name it. So for political reasons, no one tried to handle that… Including the DPP.