TaiDoc union calls for hiring freeze as city withholds certification

New Taipei, Feb. 23 (CNA) The union at TaiDoc Technology Corp. staged a protest in New Taipei on Monday, urging authorities to freeze the medical device maker's migrant-worker hiring quota, which the city's labor department said the company is currently ineligible to apply for amid its ongoing dispute with the union.

"Defend, defend, defend our union!" members of TaiDoc Technology Labor Union (TTLU) and local labor groups chanted during a protest held outside the New Taipei City Government in Banqiao District on Monday morning.

The rally marked the union's fifth protest in recent months, after four earlier actions outside the Ministry of Labor (MOL) in Taipei, during which it threatened strike action, criticized what it described as overly strict rules for managing migrant workers, and accused the company of union-busting.

"We're here today to urge the New Taipei City government not to issue TaiDoc any further certificates of no labor law violations," said Lennon Wang (汪英達), director of the NGO Serve the People Association's Department of Policies on Migrant Workers.

The certificate is a key document that Taiwanese companies need from local governments when applying for permission to recruit migrant workers.

Wang, who is also a union leader, said the TTLU also called on MOL to freeze TaiDoc's migrant worker quota, arguing that such a move would force the company to "comply with the law and negotiate with the union."

According to Wang, the TTLU has registered with the New Taipei City Government's Labor Affairs Department and currently has around 30 Filipino members, including seven union officials who were recently dismissed by the company.

City government response

After receiving a petition from the union, Hsiao Hui-min (蕭慧敏), an official with New Taipei's Labor Affairs Department, said that at present, if TaiDoc seeks to apply to hire additional migrant workers, the city government would not issue the company a "certificate of no labor law violations."

Hsiao told CNA the decision was based on Article 22 of the Regulations on the Permission and Administration of the Employment of Foreign Workers, which provides that the certificate may be issued to companies only when there are "insufficient facts to indicate the occurrence of a strike, or management-labor disputes at work locations designated for" incoming foreign workers.

After TTLU passed a motion to authorize strike action in November last year, "there is indeed a significant labor dispute between the company and workers, or between the company and the union," Hsiao said.

She further explained that an actual strike could objectively be triggered and that the city government was therefore unable, for the time being, to issue the certificate under the provision.

In response to the union-busting allegations, Hsiao said the matter remains under adjudication in an "unfair labor practice" case being handled by MOL.

She said TaiDoc's dismissal of all union officials while the case is under adjudication "raises a high suspicion of illegality" and could result in severe penalties if violations are confirmed.

As for one of the union's allegations - that the company charged illegal job-placement fees - Hsiao said there has so far been "no determination of the facts," as the union filed a complaint without providing evidence and the company has denied the allegation.

MOL, TaiDoc weigh in

In response to CNA's inquiry, MOL cited a statement issued last Monday after the union's fourth protest, saying it would, in accordance with the law, freeze the company's migrant-worker quota during the labor dispute and subject any future applications to heightened scrutiny.

In a statement issued later on Monday, TaiDoc did not directly address the union's call to freeze its migrant-worker hiring quota, but rejected a demand raised at the union's fourth protest for the government to impose an immediate ban on exports of all TaiDoc products.

The company said exports account for about 80-90 percent of its revenue, warning that any government moves to ban or restrict shipments would "sharply cut income" and pose "major influences" to its financial structure and operational stability.

Such a scenario would force the firm to scale back operations and adjust staffing, it said, potentially affecting the jobs and livelihoods of around 800-900 employees and their families.