Migrant workers in Taiwan want legal protection as Mother's Day gift
CAN | 05/02/2021
Taipei,
May 2 (CNA) More than 100 migrant domestic workers staged a rally in Taipei on
Sunday, calling for better protection of their rights and welfare, ahead of
Mother's Day. The
workers, many of them mothers from the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam, said
legal protection is what they would like as a gift for Mother's Day, which falls
on May 9. "We are
not robots," "We need rest," "Household work is work and deserves legal
protections," they chanted at the rally in front of the Cabinet building. Gracie
Liu (劉曉櫻),
a spokesperson for the Migrants Empowerment Network in Taiwan (MENT), said
foreign home care workers in Taiwan do not have legal protections because they
are not covered by the country's Labor Standards Act. Enactment
of a household service law would be "the best gift for the 250,000 migrant
workers in Taiwan for Mother's Day, especially for those who are mothers," she
said. In 2004,
MENT put forth a proposal for a draft bill called the Household Service Act,
which sought to include all domestic workers in Taiwan's labor insurance system,
set standards for their wages, allow compensation for work-related injuries, and
provide guidelines for their room, board, and mandatory rest periods. The bill
was shelved in the Legislature, however, and not been brought up since for
review. According
to MENT, foreign domestic employees work 10.4 hours a day on average, earning
NT$17,000 (US$600) per month, well below Taiwan's monthly minimum wage of
NT$24,000. Citing a
report released by the Ministry of Labor in 2020, MENT said 34.4 percent of
migrant domestic workers in Taiwan are not permitted by their employers to take
leave. An
Indonesian caregiver, who asked to be called Feni, said it is tough work, but it
is sometimes not recognized as worthy of proper pay. "Some
Taiwanese say migrant caregivers are greedy, but those who take care of the sick
and elderly know that it is not an easy task," said Feni, who has been working
in Taiwan for 10 years.
Meanwhile, Aileen dela Cruz, director of the Domestic Caretaker Union, said
Taiwan's policymaking and legislative bodies should recognize that domestic
workers are entitled to the rights and dignity associated with such employment. Also at
the rally, Kang Yang (楊剛),
a representative of the Taiwan-based human rights group Covenants Watch, said
the government must ensure that all migrant workers have the same protection as
other employees, based on the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, which Taiwan ratified in 2009. Other
human rights groups that participated in Sunday's rally included Taiwan
International Workers' Association, Caritas Taiwan, Awakening Foundation, and
Taiwan Association for Human Rights. In
response to the migrant workers' demands, the Ministry of Labor issued a press
release, saying that the proposed Household Service Act remains a challenge
because it is difficult to specify the work hours and duties of domestic
employees. The
government, however, has been taking steps to better protect the rights and
welfare of migrant domestic workers, the ministry said, adding that all migrant
workers were included in the recently passed Occupational Accident Insurance and
Protection Act. Regarding
duties and work conditions, Taiwanese employers of migrant workers should adhere
to the terms of their work contracts, in accordance with the Employment Service
Act, the ministry said.
(By Emerson
Lim)
Enditem/pc
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