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Taiwan, Thailand sign labor pact
BANGKOK - Taiwan and Thailand
signed a labor cooperative agreement in Bangkok on
Monday to offer better protection for Thai nationals
working legally in Taiwan.
The
agreement was signed by Taiwanese representative to
Thailand Huang Hsien-jung and Piyawat Niyom-Rerks, Thai
representative to Taiwan, on behalf of their respective
governments. Chen Chu, chairwoman of Taiwan's
cabinet-level Council of Labor Affairs (CLA), traveled
to Bangkok to witness the signing ceremony. Thai
Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Suwat Liptapanlop
was also present.
Addressing the ceremony, Chen said she
was pleased to see the signing of the agreement to
protect Thai citizens intending to work in Taiwan from
being exploited by manpower agents from both sides.
"The agreement marks a step
forward in Taiwan-Thai cooperation in labor affairs," Chen
said. As of the end of October, she went on,
117,701 Thai nationals worked in Taiwan, making Thailand
Taiwan's largest source of foreign laborers, with a ratio
of 38 percent.
"Most of the Thai workers have
maintained good working relationships with their Taiwan
employers, " Chen said, adding that Taiwan is grateful
to the Thai laborers for their contributions to the
island's economic development.
Noting that the
government attaches great importance to the protection
of human rights, Chen claimed that Taiwan offers foreign
workers "the same rights as their local counterparts".
Previously, each Thai worker had to
pay 200,000 baht (US$4,575) in brokerage fees. With the
signing of the "direct hiring" agreement, Chen said,
Thai nationals intending to work in Taiwan will no long have
to pay such exorbitant brokerage fees. Moreover, Chen
went on, Taiwan has set up 23 foreign-laborer counseling
service centers to help workers resolve problems and to
receive their complaints and appeals. "Thai workers in
Taiwan can dial 0800 direct phone numbers to file
complaints in their mother tongue," she added.
Chen said her council regularly sends staff to
Taiwanese companies that have hired a large number of
foreign workers, to inspect the general working
environment and treatment of the foreign workers. "Our
labor council subsidizes Thai-language radio programs
and offers financial support for activities celebrating
major Thai festivals as part of our efforts to improve
the quality of life of Thai workers in Taiwan," she
said.
The
signing of the agreement was delayed for three months
and Chen said she was very pleased the accord has
finally been signed.
After the ceremony, Chen held a
news conference in which she called for the signing of a
Taiwan-Thai agreement on the exchange of prisoners based
on humanitarian considerations. At the moment, Chen said, 70 Thai laborers
are serving time in Taiwan prisons, outnumbering the
number of Taiwanese citizens serving time in Thai prisons.
Chen said Thai workers convicted of criminal offenses
cannot be exempted from punishment. But because of the distance and
financial burden involved, she went on, their families
may be unable to travel to Taiwan to visit them.
"In the end, they may lose contact
with their families and even become homeless after
their prison terms expire, " Chen said, adding that
the Thai authorities should step up preparations for
signing a prisoners exchange agreement. She suggested
that the Thai government negotiate with Taiwan's
Ministry of Justice on the prisoner-exchange pact, which would
help boost human-rights protection and humanitarian
cooperation between the two countries.
A
Taiwan-Thai labor conference opened after the signing of
the new labor agreement in which officials from the two
sides were to discuss concrete measures to streamline
the procedure for bringing Thai workers to Taiwan and to
protect them from paying high brokerage fees.
Kuo Fong-yu, director of the CLA's Employment
and Vocational Training Administration, headed the Taiwanese
delegation at the two-day conference. Chen was also
to meet with senior executives of Taiwanese trade
associations in Thailand to gain a better understanding
of their business operations here.
(Asia
Pulse/CNA)
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