TaiDoc union launches strike campaign, demands reinstatement of fired officials

Taipei, Feb. 16 (CNA) The union at TaiDoc Technology Corp. said Monday it will launch a strike campaign to press the medical device maker to meet its demands, including reinstating dismissed union officials.

Union members and labor groups chanted slogans during a protest held outside the Ministry of Labor (MOL) in Taipei on Monday morning.

It marked the union's fourth protest outside MOL, following three earlier demonstrations over what it described as overly strict management rules for migrant workers and alleged union-busting.

Fang Chang (張仲方), a labor rights advocate who hosted the protest, said the New Taipei-based company dismissed all union officials the day after the union's third protest last Monday over the firing of its chair.

Afterward, Chang said, TaiDoc Chairman Chen Chao-wang (陳朝旺) offered to reinstate the six officials during a videoconference on the condition that they quit the union, an offer they rejected. They were then forced out of their dormitories the following day.

Union chair Elizabeth Basas said the strike campaign was announced outside MOL on Lunar New Year's Eve to underscore the union's determination to continue its actions until the dispute is resolved.

"This is not only a fight for money, but also a fight to defend our dignity, rights and freedom," she said. Basas and the six dismissed officials are now staying at a shelter run by the labor rights NGO Serve the People Association.

Lennon Wang (汪英達), the group's director of migrant worker policy and the union's secretary-general, said the union now has close to 30 members, all Filipino workers, adding that reinstating the dismissed officials is a prerequisite for negotiations.

He said the timing of an actual walkout has yet to be decided, noting the company would "definitely fire everyone who goes on strike."

In response, MOL said the Labor Union Act protects the right to organize for both local and migrant workers, and warned TaiDoc could face fines of up to NT$500,000 (US$15,943) if its actions are found to constitute malicious union-busting.

TaiDoc later told CNA it would not respond to the union's protest or demands.