'DEFENSIVE LINE': Workers' rights groups called on the government to stop the exploitation of foreign workers and protect human rights by passing the amendment
By Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter
Several labor agencies and workers' rights groups yesterday held separate news conferences outside the legislature in Taipei to appeal to lawmakers about a proposed amendment that would allow foreign blue-collar workers to remain in Taiwan without having to leave the nation every three years.
However, the amendment to the Employment Service Act （就業服務法） was not dealt with yesterday, although it had been scheduled to be brought to the legislative floor for a final reading.
Representatives from the employment service institute associations of the six special municipalities, labor agencies and employers' groups said that the amendment would grant foreign workers 35 days of paid leave — including 21 days of paid leave to visit their families — every three years, in addition to seven days of paid leave each year, and burden employers with paying for the plane tickets of 600,000 foreign workers, which would cost the employers at least NT$12 billion （US$371.7 million） every three years.
They also said that foreign workers would become immigrants if they were allowed to stay in Taiwan for 12 consecutive years and change their workplace "whenever they want," adding that the foreign workers would "snatch job opportunities from local workers" if the amendment is passed.
The claim that foreign workers would get 35 days of paid leave was last month described as "groundless" by Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） Legislator Lin Shu-fen （林淑芬）, one of the lawmakers who proposed the amendment.
Lin said that foreign blue-collar workers are entitled to seven days off each year if they have worked for the same employer for at least one year, adding that foreign workers are not protected by the Labor Standards Act （勞動基準法） and have to negotiate paid leave with their employer.
Taiwan International Workers' Association （TIWA） spokesperson Chen Hsiu-lien （陳秀蓮） said that she did not understand how the employers' groups came up with the figure of NT$12 billion, adding that foreign workers are already granted seven days off each year.
"The claim about foreign workers becoming immigrants after 12 years is likewise baseless, as the existing law stipulates that foreign blue-collar workers on working visas would not be able to count those working years toward the the years required to apply to immigrate," Chen added.
More than 10 workers' rights groups, including the TIWA, urged the government to stop the exploitation of foreign workers, asking lawmakers to "hold the defensive line of human rights" against the labor agencies' lobbying until the amendment passes the legislative floor.
Several foreign workers also appeared at the news conference, holding up placards showing their names and the amount of money they had to pay brokers, saying that they support abolishing the rule that requires them to exit the nation every three years and pay new brokerage fees.
The amounts shown on the placards ranged between US$2,570 and US$6,500.
"What we earn is not much and the brokers take almost as much as we have earned," a Vietnamese worker surnamed Nguyen said.
Taiwan Association of Hope Construction for People with Disabilities president Vincent Huang （黃智堅）, as an employer of foreign workers, voiced his support for the amendment, saying that the information provided by the labor agencies was misleading and distorted, and that many people with disabilities support the migrant workers' cause.
Chen Hsiu-lien said that people with disabilities and foreign blue-collar workers, both vulnerable groups, should not be pitted against each other.
Taoyuan Confederation of Trade Unions chairman Mao Chen-fei （毛振飛） said if there are exploited foreign workers, there are also exploited domestic workers.
"Seeing how the labor agencies [treat foreign workers] makes people feel that there are still businesses in Taiwan that rely on [sucking] human blood and [consuming] human flesh for profit," Mao said.
Foreign workers demonstrate outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday in support of a proposed amendment to the Employment Service Act. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Labor agency representatives protest outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday against a proposed amendment to the Employment Service Act. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Typhoon Nepartak is expected to be at its closest to Taiwan tomorrow and Friday, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.
As of 2pm yesterday, the eye of the storm was 1,630km southeast of the nation's southernmost tip, Oluanpi （鵝鑾鼻）, and was moving north-northwest at 30kph, bureau data showed.
It was packing maximum sustained winds of 144kph, with gusts reaching 180kph, the bureau said.
The bureau was unable to accurately predict whether the eye would make landfall on Taiwan or would veer north into waters to the east. Having grown in intensity from a tropical storm into a typhoon on Monday night, Nepartak is continuing to pick up strength because it has a small vertical wind shear — the change in wind direction with height in the atmosphere — and is passing over a warm body of water, the bureau said.
Nepartak — named after a Micronesian Kosrae warrior — is the first storm of this year's Pacific typhoon season.
Ferry companies said they would suspend passenger services to and from Orchid Island （Lanyu, 蘭嶼） from today through Saturday.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan （賀陳旦） said he is fully confident that Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport would avoid flooding if the typhoon brings torrential rain over the next few days, after recent thunderstorms triggered flooding in the basement of Terminal 2 on two separate occasions.
Three preventive measures are to be taken to protect the airport from flooding, he said.
Authorities are to remove all possible blockages in the airport's main water drainage system, put up concrete flood-prevention barriers in parking lots and install anti-flood gates, he said.
DIFFICULT TO IDENTIFY: Symptoms involving the gastrointestinal tract or respiratory system can easily be confused with other diseases, leading to misdiagnosis
By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
Neuroendocrine tumors are difficult to diagnose, but can grow nearly anywhere in the body, the Hope Foundation for Cancer Care said yesterday, as it advised people to look out for 10 common symptoms, including gastric ulcers, chronic diarrhea and dermatitis.
A campaign by the foundation and Tri-Service General Hospital to help raise public awareness of neuroendocrine tumors began yesterday, with more than 100 toy zebras on display at the lobby of the hospital.
Neuroendocrine tumors are like the zebras of the cancer world, because they are difficult to diagnose and are often mistaken for other diseases, the foundation said, adding that physicians are usually taught to focus on the most likely possibilities when making a diagnosis, not on less likely scenarios.
"When you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras," the foundation said, describing why zebras were chosen for the promotion.
Chen Jia-hong （陳佳宏）, an attending physician at the hospital's hematology and oncology department, said experts have yet to find the cause of neuroendocrine tumors, which can occur in people of different ages.
The tumors are often mistaken for other diseases because their symptoms can vary depending on the types of cells that are affected and the hormones that are released.
Based on clinical observations, about 50 to 60 percent of neuroendocrine tumors develop in the gastrointestinal tract, about 20 percent in the lungs and about 20 percent in other parts of the body, Chen said.
Chen said that 10 common symptoms of the disease are coughing, asthma, recurrent gastric ulcers, chronic diarrhea, a feeling of excessive hunger caused by low blood sugar, sweating at night, hot flashes, fever, palpitation and dermatitis.
Because some types of neuroendocrine tumors are less aggressive and symptoms involving the gastrointestinal tract or respiratory system can easily be confused with other diseases, it can take five to seven years for a person to be diagnosed with the disease, the foundation said.
Chen said people who have experienced these symptoms for more than a month and show no signs of improvement after taking medication should make an appointment for a thorough checkup for neuroendocrine tumors.
Data published by the American Society of Clinical Oncology show that the incidence rate of NET in the US increased from 1.09 per 100,000 people in 1973 to five per 100,000 people in 2004, the foundation said, adding that an estimated 1,400 people will develop NET each year in Taiwan.
The foundation's display of toy zebras and information to raise awareness of NET is to make a tour of five hospitals across the nation through Nov. 3.
Some of the more than 100 toy zebras displayed in the main hall of the Tri-Service General Hospital in Taipei's Neihu District are pictured yesterday. The installation is part of an initiative to inform the public about the 10 common symptoms of difficult-to-diagnose neuroendocrine tumors. Photo: CNA
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