International Migrants Day rally calls for better labor protections

Taipei, Dec. 18 (CNA) Civil society groups called for strengthened migrant worker protections and greater oversight of the Ministry of Labor (MOL), during an International Migrants Day rally in Taipei Wednesday.

Among the demands made by the coalition of migrant worker groups who gathered outside the MOL's headquarters was for spending of the ministry's "employment stabilization fund" to be made more transparent.

The fund -- paid for by employers and meant for initiatives to mitigate the impact of hiring migrant workers -- has come under scrutiny amid reports former Labor Minister Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) siphoned off NT$3.56 million to pay for a concert at which she sang.

The groups also called for migrant workers in certain sectors to be allowed to change employers and find employment without having to go through manpower brokers, and for the ceiling on the number of years migrant workers can work in Taiwan to be scrapped.

Under Article 53 of the Employment Service Act, migrant workers are only able to change employers in exceptional circumstances, such as an employer dying, a factory closing or a fishing vessel sinking.

Meanwhile, Wu Ching-ju (吳靜如) of the Taiwan International Workers' Association (TIWA), urged the newly appointed Labor Minister Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) to continue the stance he took up when he was a lawmaker and halt a revised caregiver outreach program.

Wu said that a pilot program allowing migrant caregivers to be hired by eligible families as dispatch workers should only go ahead if the government continues to address problems with the long-term care service system to boost the public's willingness to use it.

The initial iteration of the program was launched in 2013 but suspended in 2019.

Head of the Workforce Development Agency's Cross-Border Workforce Affairs Center Su Yu-kuo (蘇裕國) told CNA in May that as people eligible for the service were subject to the same criteria as those hiring long-term migrant caregivers, this had removed incentives for dispatched caregivers.

According to Su, the revised program will broaden the eligibility of users and could be expanded to include families with seniors or individuals who suffer from severe or acute injuries or diseases that require urgent care services.

In the early iteration of the program, only families with crucial care needs or individuals with severe mental or physical disabilities could hire dispatched migrant caregivers, Su said.

In a written response, the MOL said it has held several meetings with the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and nongovernmental organizations to discuss the program.

Hsu Wei-dung (許惟棟), another member of TIWA, called for the brokerage system, which monopolizes job openings for migrant workers in Taiwan, to be abolished.

Hsu said that the hefty placement fees charged by brokers and a lack of freedom to change jobs had motivated many migrant workers to abscond.

As of October this year, there were 89,666 unaccounted-for migrant workers in Taiwan, up from the 85,797 year-on-year, according to the latest statistics released by the National Immigration Agency.

In the statement, the MOL said currently cases involving migrant workers who ask to change employers are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Alternatively, they can reach an agreement with their employers to dissolve their contracts or be transferred to new employers at the end of their contracts, it said.

In response, the MOL said that migrant workers can ask their employers to apply for them to become "intermediate skilled foreign workers" under the Cabinet's Long-Term Retention of Skilled Foreign Workers Program, which would waive the limit on the number of years they can work in Taiwan.