Fahd Al-Ghaithi, Arab News/Al-Eqtisadiah
Tuesday, 30, August, 2005 (25, Rajab, 1426)
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=69275&d=30&m=8&y=2005
RIYADH, 30 August 2005 The Ministry of Labor has warned institutions in the private sector that women should not work during the evening. An exception is made for those in the medical field where their job requires them to work at night or that they are in a continuous working shift in a hospital that requires them to stay all day.
Muhammad Al-Duwaish, the director of the legal department and labor relations at the ministry, told Arab News that the Kingdom had signed an agreement with the International Labor Organization which states that women should not work in the evening. He said that the signed agreement was for their own protection and not discriminatory as some say. Al-Duwaish said that institutions found not complying with the rule could be fined. The fine ranges from SR500 to SR1,000.
In addition, the authorities will be informed and the female section of the institution will be shut down.Commenting on the appeals made by some women in the medical field who earlier asked the minister of labor to exempt them from the ruling since their jobs required that they be in the hospital in the evening, he said that there was no need for such appeals because women in the medical field had already been exempted.
Al-Duwaish said other countries which signed the agreement would also comply with it and that the Kingdom was not the only country applying a no-evening working hours for female employees. “All countries that have signed the agreement will comply with it, including Saudi Arabia,” he said.
He noted that women should understand that the agreement was not to take away any of their rights but was instead to protect them. #
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
15,000 entertainers lose jobs in Japan
By Mayen Jaymalin
The Philippine Star
08/30/2005
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200508300408.htm
At least 15,000 Filipino entertainers have lost job opportunities in Japan and figures are expected to increase in the coming months as the Philippines continues to bear the brunt of Tokyo’s new hiring policy.
Data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) showed a dramatic 38.46 percent drop in the deployment of overseas performing artists (OPAs) for the past seven months of the year due to Japan’s stricter visa requirements in employing foreign performers.
Based on POEA records, only 23,359 Filipino entertainers were hired from January to July or almost 15,000 fewer than the recorded 37,958 OPAs deployed in the Asian country during the same period last year. In July alone, hiring of OPAs declined by 73 percent to 1,664, a big drop from the 6,292 Filipino entertainers deployed during the same period in 2004.
Officials of the local recruitment industry said they are no longer expecting the total deployment in Japan to reach 30,000 this year.
"Most OPAs, who were deployed this year, applied for their visas before the implementation of the new hiring policy so we expect the hiring of OPAs to drop by half this year," said a recruitment official, who requested not to be named. He noted that only 291 OPAs were granted visas by the Japanese embassy since the implementation of the new hiring policy last March. "We used to have an annual deployment of over 63,000 OPAs to Japan," he added.
Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas admitted there has been a steady deployment drop, but noted local recruitment agencies are now preparing to undertake appropriate actions to enable OPAs to comply with the new hiring requirements.
Sto. Tomas also pointed out that the new policy is not singling out Filipinos, saying other foreign entertainers must abide by Tokyo’s new requirements as well. "It’s not that the new policy is biased against us (Filipinos) because it is for all entertainers (wanting to work in Japan)," Sto. Tomas said.
Earlier, local recruiters had warned of a possible drop in the deployment of OPAs as well as dollar remittances from Filipinos in Japan as soon as the Japanese government began restricting the entry of foreign workers.
The Philippine Association of Agencies Deploying Artists said OPAs annually remit some $1 billion to the country but the figure could decline dramatically due to the new hiring rules. The Japanese government is enforcing the new immigration law in an effort to curb the worsening human trafficking and prostitution problem in the country. #
The Philippine Star
08/30/2005
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200508300408.htm
At least 15,000 Filipino entertainers have lost job opportunities in Japan and figures are expected to increase in the coming months as the Philippines continues to bear the brunt of Tokyo’s new hiring policy.
Data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) showed a dramatic 38.46 percent drop in the deployment of overseas performing artists (OPAs) for the past seven months of the year due to Japan’s stricter visa requirements in employing foreign performers.
Based on POEA records, only 23,359 Filipino entertainers were hired from January to July or almost 15,000 fewer than the recorded 37,958 OPAs deployed in the Asian country during the same period last year. In July alone, hiring of OPAs declined by 73 percent to 1,664, a big drop from the 6,292 Filipino entertainers deployed during the same period in 2004.
Officials of the local recruitment industry said they are no longer expecting the total deployment in Japan to reach 30,000 this year.
"Most OPAs, who were deployed this year, applied for their visas before the implementation of the new hiring policy so we expect the hiring of OPAs to drop by half this year," said a recruitment official, who requested not to be named. He noted that only 291 OPAs were granted visas by the Japanese embassy since the implementation of the new hiring policy last March. "We used to have an annual deployment of over 63,000 OPAs to Japan," he added.
Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas admitted there has been a steady deployment drop, but noted local recruitment agencies are now preparing to undertake appropriate actions to enable OPAs to comply with the new hiring requirements.
Sto. Tomas also pointed out that the new policy is not singling out Filipinos, saying other foreign entertainers must abide by Tokyo’s new requirements as well. "It’s not that the new policy is biased against us (Filipinos) because it is for all entertainers (wanting to work in Japan)," Sto. Tomas said.
Earlier, local recruiters had warned of a possible drop in the deployment of OPAs as well as dollar remittances from Filipinos in Japan as soon as the Japanese government began restricting the entry of foreign workers.
The Philippine Association of Agencies Deploying Artists said OPAs annually remit some $1 billion to the country but the figure could decline dramatically due to the new hiring rules. The Japanese government is enforcing the new immigration law in an effort to curb the worsening human trafficking and prostitution problem in the country. #
Sunday, August 28, 2005
10% of Filipinos left RP as of '04
www.sunstar.com.ph
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
10% of Filipinos left RP as of '04
By Jimmy P. Abayon
SOME ten percent of the country's more than 80 million people or 8.08
million Filipinos have left the Philippines as of December 2004, said
the Commission of Filipinos Overseas (CFO).
Officials from the CFO were in Dumaguete City on Tuesday to conduct an
awareness campaign on issues concerning migration and intermarriages.
Of the total, 3.19 million are permanent residents abroad, said CFO
official Janet Ramos.
Some 79 percent are in the US, 14 percent in Canada, seven percent in
Australia, six percent in Japan, one percent in Germany, and 0.5
percent in the United Kingdom.
Ma. Regina Angela Gallas, another CFO official, said from 1998 to 2004
4,887 Filipinos from Negros Oriental left the country to work or live
overseas.
Almost half, roughly 2,237, were from Dumaguete City.
From 1993 to 2004, some 1,692 Filipinos married foreigners of whom 696
were from Dumaguete City.
CFO also held a similar forum at Negros Oriental State University (Norsu).
Ramos said the number of Filipinos going abroad has been increasing in
recent years and that, based on the trend, it will continue to
increase in the coming years.
Some 55,137 Filipinos left the country as immigrants in 2003 and the
number increased to 64,824 last year.
She said an average of 300 to 350 Filipinos leaving the country as
immigrants register for CFO's pre-departure and guidance counseling
sessions daily.
CFO is a government agency catering to Filipino immigrants, either
through petition or intermarriage, and holds pre-departure and
guidance counseling sessions for Filipinos ready to leave the country.
The agency conducts annual awareness campaigns in provinces with a
high number of Filipino immigrants.
(August 28, 2005 issue)
(c) Copyright 2002 - 2005 Sun.Star Publishing, Inc.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
10% of Filipinos left RP as of '04
By Jimmy P. Abayon
SOME ten percent of the country's more than 80 million people or 8.08
million Filipinos have left the Philippines as of December 2004, said
the Commission of Filipinos Overseas (CFO).
Officials from the CFO were in Dumaguete City on Tuesday to conduct an
awareness campaign on issues concerning migration and intermarriages.
Of the total, 3.19 million are permanent residents abroad, said CFO
official Janet Ramos.
Some 79 percent are in the US, 14 percent in Canada, seven percent in
Australia, six percent in Japan, one percent in Germany, and 0.5
percent in the United Kingdom.
Ma. Regina Angela Gallas, another CFO official, said from 1998 to 2004
4,887 Filipinos from Negros Oriental left the country to work or live
overseas.
Almost half, roughly 2,237, were from Dumaguete City.
From 1993 to 2004, some 1,692 Filipinos married foreigners of whom 696
were from Dumaguete City.
CFO also held a similar forum at Negros Oriental State University (Norsu).
Ramos said the number of Filipinos going abroad has been increasing in
recent years and that, based on the trend, it will continue to
increase in the coming years.
Some 55,137 Filipinos left the country as immigrants in 2003 and the
number increased to 64,824 last year.
She said an average of 300 to 350 Filipinos leaving the country as
immigrants register for CFO's pre-departure and guidance counseling
sessions daily.
CFO is a government agency catering to Filipino immigrants, either
through petition or intermarriage, and holds pre-departure and
guidance counseling sessions for Filipinos ready to leave the country.
The agency conducts annual awareness campaigns in provinces with a
high number of Filipino immigrants.
(August 28, 2005 issue)
(c) Copyright 2002 - 2005 Sun.Star Publishing, Inc.
Maid released TO lawyer custody
By Edgar C. Cadano
The Saudi Gazette
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/sgazette/Data/2005/8/28/Art_256358.XML
RIYADH -- Housemaid Nour Miyati was released Saturday to the custody of a Saudi lawyer hired by the Indonesian embassy, embassy officials said here.
Nour Miyati is now under the personal custody of lawyer Nasser Dandani, said Dr. Mohammed Sugiarto. The lawyer, however, refused to give further information when contacted by the Saudi Gazette.Sugiarto said the hearing of the case slapped against Miyati by the Saudi prosecutor would proceed in the local court while she is now free.
The Indonesian embassy has been requesting the Saudi government to release their national under their custody while Miyati has been recuperating from surgery that amputated of her nine fingers and some toes as she was afflicted with gangrene that she allegedly got from a beating.
Beaten black and blue with mouth and eye injuries, Miyati was rolled to Riyadh s Shumaissy hospital in March by her employer, whom and whose wife the Indonesian initially accused of torturing her and tying her up in a bathroom for a month until she developed gangrene.
She has earlier asked her employer to pay the 18-month unpaid salary.Miyati was moved to King Faisal Specialist Hospital after her amputation as ordered by King Abdullah who was Crown Prince at that time.
While at King Faisal Specialist hospital, an investigative report said Miyati changed her previous statements about being tortured and was charged for issuing false allegations against her sponsor.
Miyati was arrested at the hospital and transferred to Al-Nisa Jail for two days and later found out to have been moved to Al-Nahda Philanthropic Society.
Sugiarto said the embassy would continue to extend legal and other assistance to Miyati while her case is being heard.The Indoneisan government has resumed deploying Indoneisan workers last month after Indonesian recruitment agency and the Saudi Arabian National Recruitment Committee of the Saudi Council of Chambers of Commerce agreed upon some protective measures.
Industry sources said the agreement provides housemaids to be given a weekly day off, a monthly salary of SR600 for newly recruited maids and SR700 for maids recruited for the second time. It also makes it mandatory for the sponsors to bear the domestic help s recruitment fees and air repatriation ticket upon the completion of the contract besides providing her with adequate accommodation and healthy food.
The agreement also allows maids to perform Haj and Umrah besides receiving incoming telephone calls and meeting with embassy s officials if need arises. Another provision states that maids should be treated kindly as per the Islamic and Shariah rules and holds the sponsor accountable for any psychological or physical damage caused to the maid by her employer or any of his dependents.
It also makes it obligatory for the employer to provide medical care for the maid and in case she falls sick and is prescribed rest by the doctor she must get paid full salary. And if she dies, the employer shall fully bear the transportation expenses of the corpse. #
The Saudi Gazette
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/sgazette/Data/2005/8/28/Art_256358.XML
RIYADH -- Housemaid Nour Miyati was released Saturday to the custody of a Saudi lawyer hired by the Indonesian embassy, embassy officials said here.
Nour Miyati is now under the personal custody of lawyer Nasser Dandani, said Dr. Mohammed Sugiarto. The lawyer, however, refused to give further information when contacted by the Saudi Gazette.Sugiarto said the hearing of the case slapped against Miyati by the Saudi prosecutor would proceed in the local court while she is now free.
The Indonesian embassy has been requesting the Saudi government to release their national under their custody while Miyati has been recuperating from surgery that amputated of her nine fingers and some toes as she was afflicted with gangrene that she allegedly got from a beating.
Beaten black and blue with mouth and eye injuries, Miyati was rolled to Riyadh s Shumaissy hospital in March by her employer, whom and whose wife the Indonesian initially accused of torturing her and tying her up in a bathroom for a month until she developed gangrene.
She has earlier asked her employer to pay the 18-month unpaid salary.Miyati was moved to King Faisal Specialist Hospital after her amputation as ordered by King Abdullah who was Crown Prince at that time.
While at King Faisal Specialist hospital, an investigative report said Miyati changed her previous statements about being tortured and was charged for issuing false allegations against her sponsor.
Miyati was arrested at the hospital and transferred to Al-Nisa Jail for two days and later found out to have been moved to Al-Nahda Philanthropic Society.
Sugiarto said the embassy would continue to extend legal and other assistance to Miyati while her case is being heard.The Indoneisan government has resumed deploying Indoneisan workers last month after Indonesian recruitment agency and the Saudi Arabian National Recruitment Committee of the Saudi Council of Chambers of Commerce agreed upon some protective measures.
Industry sources said the agreement provides housemaids to be given a weekly day off, a monthly salary of SR600 for newly recruited maids and SR700 for maids recruited for the second time. It also makes it mandatory for the sponsors to bear the domestic help s recruitment fees and air repatriation ticket upon the completion of the contract besides providing her with adequate accommodation and healthy food.
The agreement also allows maids to perform Haj and Umrah besides receiving incoming telephone calls and meeting with embassy s officials if need arises. Another provision states that maids should be treated kindly as per the Islamic and Shariah rules and holds the sponsor accountable for any psychological or physical damage caused to the maid by her employer or any of his dependents.
It also makes it obligatory for the employer to provide medical care for the maid and in case she falls sick and is prescribed rest by the doctor she must get paid full salary. And if she dies, the employer shall fully bear the transportation expenses of the corpse. #
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Thai laborers riot in Kaohsiung
2005/8/23
The China Post staff
Protesting what they called "unfair and unjust" treatment, more than 100 foreign workers, mostly Thais, staged the severest riot ever involving alien labors in Taiwan near Kaohsiung City. They burned houses, cars and facilities, and attacked police Sunday night before being subdued by riot police. No serious injuries were reported.
The incident occurred when several Thai workers returned Sunday night to their dormitory at Kangshan in Kaohsiung, the island's second largest City, with liquor and cigarettes, which are banned from the premises.
When they were prevented from entering the dormitory, the angry foreign workers who had been unhappy for a long time about the rigid and unreasonable treatment vented their anger by burning houses, breaking glasses, and throwing stones at the management staff, some of whom were beaten up, according to the police.
Riot police were called in to restore order, and the rioting workers sent delegates to negotiate with the human resources company that brought them to work in Taiwan. The negotiations went on until a little past 7:00 a.m. yesterday.
Witnesses said the workers actually turned the area into a "battlefield" with offices ransacked and extensive littering of burned garbage and beverage cans.
The management of Huapan Manpower Consultant and Management Co. estimated that the riot caused a NT$10 million loss to the company.
The government has dispatched Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) officials down to Kaohsiung and staff of the Thai representative office in Taipei also came forward to try and mediate.
By noon, peace returned to the Kangshan foreign workers' living quarters that were built to accommodate 3,000 people hired to build Kaohsiung's mass rapid transit system. At present, only 1,700 foreign workers, mostly Thais, are living there.
Thai workers were seen taking the initiative to clean up the mess they had created, while the construction work for the mass rapid transit (MRT) systems was brought to a standstill for one day.
Both police and prosecutors said they have started to gather evidence with a plan to charge those who led the rioting.
The workers presented a long list of 16 requests to improve their living and working conditions as well as payment terms.
They complained that the company, Huapan Manpower Consultant and Management, still owes them overtime pay incurred last year. They were only paid for 46 hours for every 100 hours of overtime, they said.
The workers demanded that they be allowed to use cell phones, that food quality at the cafeterias be improved, and that a satellite dish be installed so they can watch TV programs from their home country.
They also wanted the company to reshuffle managers who have allegedly been rough with the workers, including beating up some of their co-workers.
Another disgruntlement of the workers was that they could not take back food and daily necessities that were not purchased at the dormitory store. They called the restriction a form of exploitation.
Expressing his concern, Premier Frank Hsieh appealed to relevant government agencies to be lenient with foreign laborers, saying that the country should extend greater hospitality to the foreign nationals who are here doing laborious jobs that many Taiwan citizens would rather not do.
Noting that efforts should be made to regularly protect the foreign laborers' basic human rights and interests, Hsieh said that it would be a "bad thing" if the laborers' dissatisfaction or indignation with their Taiwan managers intensified to become a full-blown riot.
The premier said he has already directed the CLA to look into the latest incident.
Kuo Fang-yu, director-general of the CLA's Employment and Vocational Training Administration, said that officials from the Kaohsiung Police Department, the Kaohsiung Bureau of Labor Affairs and the Thai liaison office in Taiwan have begun investigating the incident.
Acting Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai expressed concern about the incident, urging all related parties to step forward to resolve the management-labor controversy as soon as possible.
Chen also called for the Thai workers' brokerage firm to mediate so that the laborers can resume their work to prevent the MRT project from being disrupted.
The Thai officials and Huapan executives, together with representatives from the local police precinct and the District Attorney's Office, held a meeting in the afternoon at the Cultural Bureau of Kaohsiung County, seeking to work out solutions to the problems.
The manpower management company eventually agreed to 14 of the 16 demands from the foreign laborers, who agreed to resume working today and allowed sanitation workers to enter the dormitory to clean up the debris from the riot.
The China Post staff
Protesting what they called "unfair and unjust" treatment, more than 100 foreign workers, mostly Thais, staged the severest riot ever involving alien labors in Taiwan near Kaohsiung City. They burned houses, cars and facilities, and attacked police Sunday night before being subdued by riot police. No serious injuries were reported.
The incident occurred when several Thai workers returned Sunday night to their dormitory at Kangshan in Kaohsiung, the island's second largest City, with liquor and cigarettes, which are banned from the premises.
When they were prevented from entering the dormitory, the angry foreign workers who had been unhappy for a long time about the rigid and unreasonable treatment vented their anger by burning houses, breaking glasses, and throwing stones at the management staff, some of whom were beaten up, according to the police.
Riot police were called in to restore order, and the rioting workers sent delegates to negotiate with the human resources company that brought them to work in Taiwan. The negotiations went on until a little past 7:00 a.m. yesterday.
Witnesses said the workers actually turned the area into a "battlefield" with offices ransacked and extensive littering of burned garbage and beverage cans.
The management of Huapan Manpower Consultant and Management Co. estimated that the riot caused a NT$10 million loss to the company.
The government has dispatched Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) officials down to Kaohsiung and staff of the Thai representative office in Taipei also came forward to try and mediate.
By noon, peace returned to the Kangshan foreign workers' living quarters that were built to accommodate 3,000 people hired to build Kaohsiung's mass rapid transit system. At present, only 1,700 foreign workers, mostly Thais, are living there.
Thai workers were seen taking the initiative to clean up the mess they had created, while the construction work for the mass rapid transit (MRT) systems was brought to a standstill for one day.
Both police and prosecutors said they have started to gather evidence with a plan to charge those who led the rioting.
The workers presented a long list of 16 requests to improve their living and working conditions as well as payment terms.
They complained that the company, Huapan Manpower Consultant and Management, still owes them overtime pay incurred last year. They were only paid for 46 hours for every 100 hours of overtime, they said.
The workers demanded that they be allowed to use cell phones, that food quality at the cafeterias be improved, and that a satellite dish be installed so they can watch TV programs from their home country.
They also wanted the company to reshuffle managers who have allegedly been rough with the workers, including beating up some of their co-workers.
Another disgruntlement of the workers was that they could not take back food and daily necessities that were not purchased at the dormitory store. They called the restriction a form of exploitation.
Expressing his concern, Premier Frank Hsieh appealed to relevant government agencies to be lenient with foreign laborers, saying that the country should extend greater hospitality to the foreign nationals who are here doing laborious jobs that many Taiwan citizens would rather not do.
Noting that efforts should be made to regularly protect the foreign laborers' basic human rights and interests, Hsieh said that it would be a "bad thing" if the laborers' dissatisfaction or indignation with their Taiwan managers intensified to become a full-blown riot.
The premier said he has already directed the CLA to look into the latest incident.
Kuo Fang-yu, director-general of the CLA's Employment and Vocational Training Administration, said that officials from the Kaohsiung Police Department, the Kaohsiung Bureau of Labor Affairs and the Thai liaison office in Taiwan have begun investigating the incident.
Acting Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai expressed concern about the incident, urging all related parties to step forward to resolve the management-labor controversy as soon as possible.
Chen also called for the Thai workers' brokerage firm to mediate so that the laborers can resume their work to prevent the MRT project from being disrupted.
The Thai officials and Huapan executives, together with representatives from the local police precinct and the District Attorney's Office, held a meeting in the afternoon at the Cultural Bureau of Kaohsiung County, seeking to work out solutions to the problems.
The manpower management company eventually agreed to 14 of the 16 demands from the foreign laborers, who agreed to resume working today and allowed sanitation workers to enter the dormitory to clean up the debris from the riot.
Thai workers riot against `unfair' firm
`INHUMAN TREATMENT': Hundreds of Thai workers in Kaohsiung took the law into their own hands to protest what they call unacceptable treatment by their employer
STAFF WRITER WITH DPA , TAIPEI
Tuesday, Aug 23, 2005, Page 1
Published on TaipeiTimes
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2005/08/23/2003268802
Furious with what they saw as inhuman personnel management, some 300 Thai workers in Kaohsiung set fire at the management center, a work dormitory, cars and other facilities Sunday night, police said.
Television stations aired footage of the workers clashing with police, attacking them with rocks and bottles in the overnight riot.
Several officers were injured by rocks shot with slings by the Thai workers, while one Thai worker was injured by broken glass in the dormitory, police said.
The riot began about 9:30pm Sunday at the five-story dormitory housing 1,700 Thai workers, who are building the Kaohsiung mass-transit system. The management company was hired by the Kaohsiung Mass Transit Bureau to manage the workers' living conditions.
"Some Thai workers clashed with management personnel, who tried to discipline the drunken workers who were shouting in the dorm. The management personnel stopped one Thai worker from using a cellphone and reportedly hit him with an electric prod," the Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) reported.
"The two incidents prompted the Thai workers to vent their pent-up anger at the management, so they rioted," it reported.
In addition to the bans on alcohol, cellphones and Thai television in the dormitory, the Thai workers were required to use tokens in the dorm store, but they allege they were short-changed when exchanging the script for real money, it added.
Of the 1,700 Thai workers in the five-story dorm, some 300 took part in the riot, setting fire to management offices and cars, burning clothes and hurling rocks at police who responded to the fire report.
Police, members of Thailand's representative office in Taipei, the construction company and the recruiting firms' representatives were involved in negotiations with the Thai workers to end the standoff.
Authorities yesterday agreed to the demands made by several hundred Thai workers, ending the confrontation.
But officials also decided to charge the rioters and deport them for starting the riot, which cost the employer at least NT$10 million (US$322,500) in damages.
"After three rounds of talks, the Thai workers have agreed to end their protest and return to work after the management company accepted most of their demands," said Fang Lai-chin (方來進), the director of the labor bureau of the Kaohsiung City Government.
The workers demanded that they be allowed to use cellphones, that food quality at the cafeterias be improved and that a satellite dish be installed so they can watch TV programs from their home country.
They also protested the management company's unreasonable methods of payment -- for each 100 hours of overtime, they are only paid for 46 hours.
The workers also complained that they could not take back food and daily necessities that were not purchased at the dormitory store.
The Huapan Co last afternoon agreed to most of the workers' demands.
Fang said the labor authorities will investigate the management methods of the company and will ask that the company dismiss supervisors treating the workers in inhuman ways.
Meanwhile, officials threatened the workers who took a stand against the company with deportation. Lai Chin-lin (賴勁麟), vice chairman of Cabinet's Council of Labor Affairs, said workers found guilty of starting the riot will be deported for violating law and order.
He said the council will also punish the employer, the Kaohsiung Mass Transit Bureau, for mismanagement by slashing by 800 the number of foreign workers the company is entitled to import to help it construct the transit system.
Asked for comments, Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said yesterday that local employers must try their best to protect foreign laborers' legal and human rights.
"These people [foreign workers] flew far away from their homes and came to Taiwan for jobs, and most of them are doing heavy-duty work, such as construction work. Basically, we should try to understand their feelings," the premier said.
"Employers should pay attention to these foreign workers' emotions from time to time, because it will be too late to do so when tragedy happens," he said, adding that he has already directed the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) to look into the latest incident.
There are some 100,000 Thai workers in Taiwan.
Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang
STAFF WRITER WITH DPA , TAIPEI
Tuesday, Aug 23, 2005, Page 1
Published on TaipeiTimes
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2005/08/23/2003268802
Furious with what they saw as inhuman personnel management, some 300 Thai workers in Kaohsiung set fire at the management center, a work dormitory, cars and other facilities Sunday night, police said.
Television stations aired footage of the workers clashing with police, attacking them with rocks and bottles in the overnight riot.
Several officers were injured by rocks shot with slings by the Thai workers, while one Thai worker was injured by broken glass in the dormitory, police said.
The riot began about 9:30pm Sunday at the five-story dormitory housing 1,700 Thai workers, who are building the Kaohsiung mass-transit system. The management company was hired by the Kaohsiung Mass Transit Bureau to manage the workers' living conditions.
"Some Thai workers clashed with management personnel, who tried to discipline the drunken workers who were shouting in the dorm. The management personnel stopped one Thai worker from using a cellphone and reportedly hit him with an electric prod," the Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) reported.
"The two incidents prompted the Thai workers to vent their pent-up anger at the management, so they rioted," it reported.
In addition to the bans on alcohol, cellphones and Thai television in the dormitory, the Thai workers were required to use tokens in the dorm store, but they allege they were short-changed when exchanging the script for real money, it added.
Of the 1,700 Thai workers in the five-story dorm, some 300 took part in the riot, setting fire to management offices and cars, burning clothes and hurling rocks at police who responded to the fire report.
Police, members of Thailand's representative office in Taipei, the construction company and the recruiting firms' representatives were involved in negotiations with the Thai workers to end the standoff.
Authorities yesterday agreed to the demands made by several hundred Thai workers, ending the confrontation.
But officials also decided to charge the rioters and deport them for starting the riot, which cost the employer at least NT$10 million (US$322,500) in damages.
"After three rounds of talks, the Thai workers have agreed to end their protest and return to work after the management company accepted most of their demands," said Fang Lai-chin (方來進), the director of the labor bureau of the Kaohsiung City Government.
The workers demanded that they be allowed to use cellphones, that food quality at the cafeterias be improved and that a satellite dish be installed so they can watch TV programs from their home country.
They also protested the management company's unreasonable methods of payment -- for each 100 hours of overtime, they are only paid for 46 hours.
The workers also complained that they could not take back food and daily necessities that were not purchased at the dormitory store.
The Huapan Co last afternoon agreed to most of the workers' demands.
Fang said the labor authorities will investigate the management methods of the company and will ask that the company dismiss supervisors treating the workers in inhuman ways.
Meanwhile, officials threatened the workers who took a stand against the company with deportation. Lai Chin-lin (賴勁麟), vice chairman of Cabinet's Council of Labor Affairs, said workers found guilty of starting the riot will be deported for violating law and order.
He said the council will also punish the employer, the Kaohsiung Mass Transit Bureau, for mismanagement by slashing by 800 the number of foreign workers the company is entitled to import to help it construct the transit system.
Asked for comments, Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said yesterday that local employers must try their best to protect foreign laborers' legal and human rights.
"These people [foreign workers] flew far away from their homes and came to Taiwan for jobs, and most of them are doing heavy-duty work, such as construction work. Basically, we should try to understand their feelings," the premier said.
"Employers should pay attention to these foreign workers' emotions from time to time, because it will be too late to do so when tragedy happens," he said, adding that he has already directed the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) to look into the latest incident.
There are some 100,000 Thai workers in Taiwan.
Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang
Monday, August 22, 2005
Workers' group urge RP government to protest alleged abuse of maids in UAE
08/22 3:21:00 PM
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS_FLASH082220052955_11.htm
MANILA (AP) - A migrant workers' group on Monday urged the Philippine government to file a protest and review ties with the United Arab Emirates following reports that a rising number of Filipina maids are being abused by their employers in the Gulf country.
More than 60 Filipina maids have sought refuge at the Philippine consulate in Dubai, living in a makeshift shelter there to escape beatings and sexual harassment and seek unpaid wages.
Filipino women have been flooding into the fast-growing city to work as maids for as little as US$160 a month. But the influx has led to the number seeking shelter to double in recent weeks, with as many as five runaways a day fleeing to the consulate, labor attache Vicente Cabe said Wednesday in Dubai.
"The Philippine government should immediately lodge a diplomatic protest and review our relations with the United Arab Emirates in view of new reports of abused Filipina workers," Migrante said in a statement.
"The Philippine government must take immediate action to teach host countries ... that it is not right to condone abusive employers and leave guest workers without a livelihood, without food and without justice."
Consular officials said some runaway maids show up with bruises or allege sexual assault. Three men have been jailed in the Emirates this year for alleged rape of Filipina maids. With so many reports of abuse, Indonesia recently banned unskilled women from working in the Gulf as house maids.
Philippine Consul-General Generoso Calonge said he wanted his government to do the same.
Cabe estimated some 36,000 maids are among more than 200,000 Filipinos working in the Emirates. The maids work for local Arabs as well as expatriate European and Asian families. Nearly 2 million Filipinos live and work in the Arab countries on the Gulf, he said.
The increase in abuse cases stems from two sources: the burgeoning number of maids arriving in Dubai, one of the world's fastest growing cities, and the awareness that they can go to the consulate to report it, Calonge said.
The consulate is working with Dubai authorities to quickly return the women to the Philippines.
Dozens of runaways are stuck at the consulate-- with 25 sleeping in one room-- until Cabe or other diplomats are able to persuade employers to pay back wages and buy them tickets home. #
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS_FLASH082220052955_11.htm
MANILA (AP) - A migrant workers' group on Monday urged the Philippine government to file a protest and review ties with the United Arab Emirates following reports that a rising number of Filipina maids are being abused by their employers in the Gulf country.
More than 60 Filipina maids have sought refuge at the Philippine consulate in Dubai, living in a makeshift shelter there to escape beatings and sexual harassment and seek unpaid wages.
Filipino women have been flooding into the fast-growing city to work as maids for as little as US$160 a month. But the influx has led to the number seeking shelter to double in recent weeks, with as many as five runaways a day fleeing to the consulate, labor attache Vicente Cabe said Wednesday in Dubai.
"The Philippine government should immediately lodge a diplomatic protest and review our relations with the United Arab Emirates in view of new reports of abused Filipina workers," Migrante said in a statement.
"The Philippine government must take immediate action to teach host countries ... that it is not right to condone abusive employers and leave guest workers without a livelihood, without food and without justice."
Consular officials said some runaway maids show up with bruises or allege sexual assault. Three men have been jailed in the Emirates this year for alleged rape of Filipina maids. With so many reports of abuse, Indonesia recently banned unskilled women from working in the Gulf as house maids.
Philippine Consul-General Generoso Calonge said he wanted his government to do the same.
Cabe estimated some 36,000 maids are among more than 200,000 Filipinos working in the Emirates. The maids work for local Arabs as well as expatriate European and Asian families. Nearly 2 million Filipinos live and work in the Arab countries on the Gulf, he said.
The increase in abuse cases stems from two sources: the burgeoning number of maids arriving in Dubai, one of the world's fastest growing cities, and the awareness that they can go to the consulate to report it, Calonge said.
The consulate is working with Dubai authorities to quickly return the women to the Philippines.
Dozens of runaways are stuck at the consulate-- with 25 sleeping in one room-- until Cabe or other diplomats are able to persuade employers to pay back wages and buy them tickets home. #
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