I figured we should make a separate thread for this one.
here’s press release from the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants.
What would Taiwan do without slave labour? Ever been to a Taiwanese factory in China? Not of course that Western-run factories are necessarily any better - manufacturers go to China in the first place for the slave labour - but it seems totally acceptable in Taiwan to treat workers like slaves as long as they’re not Taiwanese. The Taiwanese get treated merely badly.
Yeah, Gil Lebria worked in Saudi Arabia for four years before coming to Taiwan and didn’t get nearly the same kind of horrible treatment. Apparently Taiwan has one of the worst records in the world as far as its treatment of migrant workers.
Cheers AndyO and Pots! A damned good cause.
As an aside, Taiwanese bosses are loathed in China - reknowned for low pay and poor treatment of workers. There has been some comeuppance of sorts of late as bad employers are finding it tougher to retain/get workers for their factories in Guangdong. As economic growth spreads to the hinterland it’s becoming less attractive to wander off the farm in Henan for the heady highs of a NT$1,000 monthly salary and possible one day off a month in a toxic Shenzhen sweatshop.
Here’s a recent strory about a beating in China by an Italian furniture company manager. Of course, if it was Taiwan, they’d have been beaten into submission and repatriated to wherever they come from. Chilling thought.
HG
Maybe he was lucky? My helper is from the Philippines and worked in Saudi Arabia for about 7 years. She says it’s bad here in Taiwan but not nearly as bad as Saudi Arabia. She also says when a migrant worker is beaten or killed sometimes it never even makes the news.
I guess it’s really hard to measure - a rep from the Asia Pacific Mission told me Taiwan and the Middle East are about equal in their treatment of migrants. I’m glad this issue is blowing up though. I believe it’s in the Apple Daily today (fine paper) and a number of other local news dailies.
Even if Gil Lebria’s testimony as told to POTS is as much as 50% exaggeration (and I don’t believe it is), that is a really, really disgusting story.
AndyO, you did a great thing printing that, but be careful. FPG is very very powerful and if the story is anything to go by, completely ruthless. Rule of law applies even less to those bastards than it does to the government.
AndyO -
Thanks for posting the story.
Very disturbing indeed. Thanks very much for posting it.
I’ve been getting periodic updates from Gil throughout the day and he claims one of the FPG workers who took part in the protest on Sunday is being held at FPG and denied food until he signs termination papers. I’m still trying to get the full story on this and get some statements from MECO etc, but I’ll let you know as it develops. Our editor talked to airport security yesterday and they said that Gil’s claim that “no one said anything” after seeing him dragged through the airport was “impossible.” Of course I think many of us know how “professional” those aiport officials can be. 
In the meantime, try to get the word out about this situation and post it wherever you feel it is appropriate. I really hope this incident doesn’t get overshadowed by more stupid partisan squabbles.
Last time I flew from Taiwan to Thailand they brought in a group of manacled Thais and popped them through customs. I suspect it’s quite a frequent and none too uncommon phenomenon. I didn’t question it at the time, just presumed they were a group of overstayers being deported.
HG
Were they semi-conscious and bleeding?
What can you say? Filipinos and Thais are not regarded as human beings here - let alone the “mainlanders” who are just untermensch. Oh well, not my fight . I’m sure I’ll get one of the Taiwan Is Wonderful brigade telling me off if I say any more about it. But it does make me angry. Pay them fuck all if you must, the laws of supply and demand will still provide someone to work for you, but people who get their kicks out of being slave masters… There is a very hot place in hell waiting for them. And what can we Europeans say? We were guilty of it too in our time. People are rotters everywhere. Oh. Beer o’clock! Super. “Think nice thoughts…”
“Not my fight.” I think this affects us all - the only reason why it doesn’t directly affect you is because you probably come from a more privileged country (as do I) that will come to your aid if you find yourself in a hostile situation like Gil and the other migrants - don’t forget the ol’ “with privilege comes responsibility” line. The very least you can do is to let them know you support them.
But the story seems one sided. Just reading the report it seems that the factory has more than just 4 workers and only these 4 were targeted after they refuse to work for 2 days.
I’m not trying to justify the harsh action taken against them, but there are a lot of questions to be raised before the “privileged” unconditionally lend there support to these 4.
[quote=“ac_dropout”]But the story seems one sided. Just reading the report it seems that the factory has more than just 4 workers and only these 4 were targeted after they refuse to work for 2 days.
I’m not trying to justify the harsh action taken against them, but there are a lot of questions to be raised before the “privileged” unconditionally lend there support to these 4.[/quote]
Actually there were sixteen workers who were targeted and they believe the reason why is because FPG staff took pictures of the key leaders of the strike. It would have posed a huge problem if they had deported all 600 workers, wouldn’t it? Where did you get that number anyway?
All I’m saying is that the migrant workers have a lot of grievances (or would you disagree with that?) and we, as other foreign workers, should support them.
As an side note which may be of interest to Forumosans, I spent last year working as a volunteer in England with a twinning organisation for a large city. One of the cities we were twinned with is in Nicaragua and given the economic situation over there a lot of the work we did was working with charitable bodies to try to improve living conditions and such. My boss there (who has been involved with Nicaragua and wider Central America for 20 years or more) said that on the rare occasions labour abuses make the news in the wider world,
AndyO
No, I do reckon I might have noticed that bit.
HG
Well, I do have copies of Gil’s (and the other migrants) payslips, time cards and contracts which they were given an hour before their departure to Taiwan. I don’t think I have to see how the court case goes to know how injust the whole situation is…
Also, here’s an update. They won their case against their broker in the Philippines.
I also got this message from Gi Estrada of the Asia Pacific Migrants Mission…
Dear Friends,
There have been many developments today on the FPG issue.
Gil and I participated in TIWA’s picket/dialogue on human trafficking and anti-slavery in front of the Legislative Yuan. Gil was allowed to talk in the picket and many media people interviewed him, while I joined the delegation that went inside the Legislative Yuan. Lei Chien, a lady legislator also accompanied us.
We raised the issue while up to now no investigation has been held in FPG. They promised that within three days or Wed. next week, they would investigate the incident and the conditions there. They also said they already know about the case and we gave them our latest letter to the head of the CLA and the petition we had before. CLA and Legislative officials were the ones who talked with us including CLA Senior Executive Officer Chen, Tsai-Neng.
At lunchtime, Gil got information that Michael Picardal was not given food at breakfast and lunch, not allowed to work and a certain Virgilio Jivon, Filipino translator of CTCI informed him that he would be sent home. We immediately raised this to legislator Lei Chien who immediately got in touch with the CLA we had just met to raise this concern. We also got in touch with Lennon to intercede and requested him to also call the media about this.
After an hour we got in touch with MECO Taichung. I was pissed off by the answer of the Welfare Officer, named V/Biolena, who somewhat sarcastically told me that we got the wrong info that Michael be sent home and he gave the phone to Archie Chua who said the same thing with some details and proudly saying that they talked to the person himself. He informed me that Michael argued with another co-worker but was being accused by the broker that he fought with him physically. He said other things that pissed me off because he did not inquire on the whole context of the problem. Because of this, I blew my top until either he turned off his phone or my phone stopped because of low battery. It is as if Gil and I do not know the situation.
After ten minutes, the new lady Labor Attach