Pinay, Indonesian workers in Taiwan call for days off, higher salaries

Filipino and Indonesian migrant workers staged a protest in Taipei Sunday, seeking mandatory days off and salaries equal to those of their Taiwanese counterparts.

Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that the protest by about 20 workers was jointly organized by ATKI-Taiwan (Asosiasi Tenaga Kerja Indonesia) and Migrante International-Taiwan Chapter.

Sunday’s action was in line with “One Billion Rising,” a global campaign using dance to seek an end to violence against women, CNA quoted Taoyuan-based Serve the People Association international department director Lennon Ying-dah Wong as saying.

Wearing pink T-shirts, some of the workers held placards with the message, “Justice for All Migrant Workers” and “No to Modern Day Slavery.”

Others danced at the main lobby of the Taipei Railway Station to call attention to what they claimed was the plight of migrant workers.

Wong noted many foreign domestic helpers and caregivers in Taiwan are women being exploited at work, since they are not covered by the Labor Standards Act.

They are not entitled to the minimum monthly wage of N$19,047 (US$626) in Taiwan. The CNA report said most foreign domestic workers are paid NT$15,840 per month.

Also, employers are also not required to give domestic workers a day off a week.

The CNA report cited official labor statistics showing there are currently more than 489,000 foreign workers in Taiwan. More than 210,000 work as domestic helpers and caregivers, and nearly 80 percent are from Indonesia.

No day off

CNA quoted Filipino domestic caregiver Maria Latosa, 40, who has worked in Taiwan for eight years, as saying she did not get a day off from work in her first three years in Taiwan.

At best, she said she had sporadic breaks on some work days.

Now she gets one to two days off per month, though she considers herself lucky.

“We want to take a break because every night there is not enough sleep,” she said, adding many migrant workers in Taiwan take care of seniors who have suffered from strokes and dementia.

CNA also quoted Lukman Nur Rohim, 33, who works in a factory in New Taipei, as saying migrant workers have to pay heavy employment agency fees, and should perform additional work not listed in their contracts.

Draft Protection Act

Liu Chuan-ming, director of the Council of Labor Affairs Department of Labor Standards, said his council drafted a Domestic Workers Protection Act and sent it to the Cabinet for review in 2012.

Under the draft act, foreign domestic workers and caregivers should be granted at least one day off per week, except in emergency situations.

Employees asked to work on their days off will be entitled to extra wages or additional days off afterwards. — RSJ, GMA News