Taipei, Oct. 29 (CNA) Dozens of migrant workers in Halloween costumes took part in a demonstration held by the Migrants Empowerment Network in Taiwan around Taipei Main Station on Sunday to call for an end to the labor broker system.
“No treat, only trick” was the main slogan chanted by migrant workers and members of labor groups at the demonstration, during which brokers were presented as blood-sucking figures.
The broker system was legalized in 1992 to introduce overseas workers to employment opportunities in Taiwan and then manage the workers and help them process any necessary documents while in Taiwan.
But according to Gracie Liu (劉曉櫻) of the Catholic Hsinchu Diocese Migrant Worker Service Center, brokers have abused the system since then, including by illegally charging them fees of NT$20,000-$90,000 to change jobs once their first three-year contracts run out.
Failure to pay, Liu said, means not getting jobs because the brokers will freeze them out of new opportunities.
Although there are government-run Employment Service Stations that are supposed to help migrant workers who want to change jobs find new work, Liu said they are not helpful and can even hurt the workers’ chances of changing jobs.
She indicated that migrants are randomly selected to take part in interviews with employers on Thursdays, but the sessions turn out to be with people who only check for available jobs on their computers and speak only basic English, rendering them ineffective.
Even worse, Liu said, if the migrants who are asked to appear do not, they are considered to have given up their opportunity to change jobs and can be deported.
Paul Su (蘇裕國), an official at the Workforce Development Agency under the Ministry of Labor, told CNA that employers can choose to directly hire migrant workers or through brokers.
He also said more translators are working at Employment Service Stations, and that translators of four languages are working at the employment service offices in Changhua and Taichung to help migrant workers find jobs with employers.
Taiwan is also negotiating with several countries, including Indonesia, on expanding the direct-hire program’s scope to first-time workers, Su said.
As for brokers found to have illegally charged migrant workers excessive fees, Su said they will face a fine 10-20 times the illegal charge.
