Filipina rights (in Taiwan)?

Coincidentally, I’m plugging this in right next to Fred’s “Middle Eastern women” post…

I’m renting a room in a Taiwanese family’s flat. My landlady (the mom) has two filipina maids employed to do pretty much everything in this joint, even “being Mom”.

I’ve talked with these two maids about their lives here (in this flat), and I feel sorry for them. Obviously, there is a spectrum of treatment towards maids; some bosses are ruthless slave drivers and some treat the maids as family.

From what I gather, my landlady is more towards the stingy, mean side of the spectrum; and I don’t doubt that since I have to deal with her sometimes myself (although since I am paying rent, I get treated pretty well).

Anyway, besides taking the three xiaogui’s (little devils, a.k.a. children) out for strolls around the 'hood, these maids stay inside this prison all day, every day. They have no freedom - no opportunity to pursue love, hobbies, relaxation.

Aren’t there some laws which stipulate some free time for these foreign workers? People with beating hearts (unlike my landlady) would realize that even their employees are human and deserve basic freedoms. The maids aren’t even paid that well. They do get free room and board (which they have prepared themselves), but c’mon, they are on-call all day.

If anyone knows of some labor laws or of any other way I could help these ladies (in addition to me talking to my landlady), please let me know.

Thanks!

PS: I, like Fred (apparently), am not a “Lefty”. I generally side with conservatives; and contrary to popular media belief, this alone does not make one a money-grubbing pig who always pursues causes for self-promotion.

What you have descibed is little better than slavery.

There were two threads earlier this year in the Living In Taiwan forum that may provide some useful information for you.

Worker exploitation
forumosa.com/3/viewtopic.php?t=7690

Run away Maid - Any experience to share on next steps
forumosa.com/3/viewtopic.php?t=9615

Might as well change the title of this thread to Mexican rights in the USA, Irish rights in the UK, Turkish rights in Germany, Maori rights in Australia/NZ… did I just screw up there…Straight rights in a Gay world.

Chou

“Irish rights in the UK” ? :unamused:

Dude, sorry. I’m not as eloquent … or as intelligent … as I’d like to be. Nag, nag, nag, surely, however, you got the point.

gimme a friggen break.

Chou

Thanks. After talking with some Taiwanese friends, these maids might be illegal, since my landlady and her hubby are perfectly able to feed themselves; and thier parents (the grandparents) only visit occasionally. I understand the kids don’t warrant having maids. I suppose illegal maids don’t have official rights. Nonetheless, that doesn’t grant my landlady a pardon for being inhumane. When it comes to money, decency is immaterial I guess.

yes, many SEAsians are done hard by here. if they miss the factory curfew, often 10:00, they will be fined and deported. they go into huge debt to buy jobs here (oh, “hire an agent”) and the taiwanese often times chew em up and spit em out without pay.

sometimes i wish taiwan would let each overseas laborer control expire and not renew. let the taiwanese wipe grampy’s ass. let taiwanese wash their own cars at 6:00 AM in december. let the taiwanese pour concrete and build their own nation. let them toil and fend for themselves instead of blaming the help.

[quote=“chodofu”]Might as well change the title of this thread to Mexican rights in the USA, Irish rights in the UK, Turkish rights in Germany, Maori rights in Australia/NZ… did I just screw up there…Straight rights in a Gay world.

Chou[/quote]

Maori’s in Australia?

Straight rights in a gay world? We should only be so lucky to enslave heterosexuals.

Maoris in Australia? You ought to try being a white aussie and NOT getting your head thumped in on a Friday night in Bondi.

No, that means the employer is employing these women under illegal means. These women were no doubt brought over believeing they’d snared a legal job. I too can’t believe how little time off the Taiwanese grant their yong ren.

HG

Don’t the maids CHOOSE to come here? Don’t they have the smarts to do a little HOMEWORK before they come here? Do they bother to talk to anyone who’s ever worked in Taiwan before? Certainly with all the deportations, a wannabe maid or foreign worker can find someone in their home country to ask about the work conditions, pay, and then decide to do it.

Their needs to be more of an effort to give the Taiwanese a bad name about maid abuse and embarrass them on the world stage. Does anyone remember the British commercial to protest animal cruely in Taiwan, with a call to boycott its products and blood running from the back of a monitor? Animal cruelty is still an issue here, but believe me, it used to be a lot worse until big foreign countries started making a stink about it.

The economy collapsed here in 1998. Indonesia has over 70,000,000 people out of work now. People are starving to death in the streets. Some of the girls I meet in Taiwan were supporting over 10 people in Indonesia.

If you were Indonesian, what exactly would YOU do?

The economy collapsed here in 1998. Indonesia has over 70,000,000 people out of work now. People are starving to death in the streets. Some of the girls I meet in Taiwan were supporting over 10 people in Indonesia.

If you were Indonesian, what exactly would YOU do?[/quote]

Well, for starters, I’d not give birth to more children than I could feed. Then, I’d try to make sure no one blows up any more tourist spots, which could have a devastating effect on the economy. Then I’d work on putting a more graft-free government in. Of course, none of this would feed me, so I’d probably die of starvation before I could even get to the birth control clinic.

I don’t know, man. That country just doesn’t seem to have its act together. They’ve been singing the same old sorry tune for decades and decades and it is hard for me to feel any sympathy. They can start by not having so many god-damned babies. The place is rich in natural resources, but not enough to support its population.

[quote=“Flicka”]Well, for starters, I’d not give birth to more children than I could feed. Then, I’d try to make sure no one blows up any more tourist spots, which could have a devastating effect on the economy. Then I’d work on putting a more graft-free government in. Of course, none of this would feed me, so I’d probably die of starvation before I could even get to the birth control clinic.

I don’t know, man. That country just doesn’t seem to have its act together. They’ve been singing the same old sorry tune for decades and decades and it is hard for me to feel any sympathy. They can start by not having so many god-damned babies. The place is rich in natural resources, but not enough to support its population.[/quote]

Agreed, the government here is one of the most corrupt in the world. Average income here is only about $60US per month. But why don’t you think about Taiwan for a few minutes.

Thirty years ago, Taiwanese were being sent overseas to the Middle East to do construction work (just like the Indonesians do now). Taiwan was one of the top 3 recipients of US aid between 1950 and 1980 (the other 2 being Israel and South Vietnam). Indonesia wasn’t getting aid. And corrupt??? Right now 15 percent of public contracts goes into the pockets of gangsters. And let’s not talk about Taiwan’s weapons procurement practices in France. Everyday there are more reports in the papers of officials in Taiwan running off with the loot. I remember 20 years ago going to the Foreign Police office in Taipei to extend my visa. Hand the cop a bag with a carton of duty-free 555 cigarettes and everything got stamped. That was the game played.

Indonesia is a big country. Over 15,000 islands, 300 languages spread out over an area the size of the US. They actually had a war of independence here…unlike Taiwan. Prosperity was virtually handed on a silver platter to the Taiwanese and they still manage to screw it up.

Anyway, that has nothing do do with 24 year old Indonesian girls who come here to work and end up being tied to a tree in Hualien and being used as a watchdog in a fruit orchard for 2 years. Or being beaten and blinded by her employer. After all, her country is fucked up and she didn’t do her homework before she came here. BTW, I’ve never met an Indonesian maid in Taiwan who was married or had children. As far as I know, the Indonesian government requires them to be single and childless.

Here’s some of the rules that “employment agencies” suggest for employers of imported maids:

  1. Don’t let them watch TV
  2. Don’t let them have a mobile phone or use the house phone
  3. Don’t let them have a bed or private room
  4. Don’t let them talk to their fellow countrymen
  5. Don’t give them time off
  6. Don’t let them go out by themselves
  7. Don’t feed them too well

See, the agencies are concerned that if the maids have it too good, they will be too lazy the next time around. And they wouldn’t want them talking to other maids. Might give them ideas. There are some good employers out there, but there’s plenty more bad ones that will happily follow the above rules and more.

[quote=“jlick”]Here’s some of the rules that “employment agencies” suggest for employers of imported maids:

  1. Don’t let them watch TV
  2. Don’t let them have a mobile phone or use the house phone
  3. Don’t let them have a bed or private room
  4. Don’t let them talk to their fellow countrymen
  5. Don’t give them time off
  6. Don’t let them go out by themselves
  7. Don’t feed them too well

See, the agencies are concerned that if the maids have it too good, they will be too lazy the next time around. And they wouldn’t want them talking to other maids. Might give them ideas. There are some good employers out there, but there’s plenty more bad ones that will happily follow the above rules and more.[/quote]

Where did you find these rules? Do you have a link or a copy of them? This would make a good letter to the editor, if true.

jlick. Movie theme overlap . . . “Wait, wait, wait! It’s a fucking joke, right?”
Please tell me it’s a joke.

HG

You aren’t going to find a list of them anywhere. The rules are explained to employers at the beginning of the contract. Ask someone you know who has a maid and they’ll tell you the same thing. Nobody complains about the system becuase they don’t want the cheap labor to go away. And despite the drawbacks, most of these maids are happy to be making what back home is a lot of money, so they don’t want to rock the boat too much either. 'nuff said.

There’s good articles about this in the Taipei Times and China Post today. Laborer groups recommend that many problems are caused by the unfair working conditions imposed by the agencies and employers. They recommend an overhaul of the brokerage system, and the right for workers to change jobs. Since their only choice in the face of unfair working conditions if the worker complains is to be deported, nobody complains, they just take off and work illegally. If you’re going to be deported anyways, no risk there.

I understand that the Philippina maids are “supposed” to have one day a week holiday, but this is seldom the case. If they complain about it they will have their contracts ended and sent back to The Philippines. Catch 22.