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Labor council panned
for denying published promises
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff reporter
Despite written in black and white in a publication, the Council of Labor
Affairs (CLA) denied that it promised a group of laid-off workers 16 years ago
that it would ask their runaway employers to repay a loan given to the workers
as retirement payouts, triggering criticism from the public.
In 1997, when several companies — including Lien-fu Textile Co (聯福紡織), Dong-ling
Electronics Co (東菱電子) and Fu-chang Electronics Co (福昌電子) — closed their doors
without prior notice and their bosses declared bankruptcy, the council assisted
the newly jobless workers by giving them retirement payouts using government
funds, and promised that it would ask their employers, not the workers
themselves, to repay the debt.
However, in recent years, many of these workers have received requests from the
CLA asking them to repay their loans, and those who were unable to pay have been
sued by the council.
The workers, as well as labor rights groups, have petitioned and staged numerous
protests, including paralyzing the rail service at Taipei Railway Station on
Tuesday.
On Thursday, some Internet users found a book on the history of the labor
movement published by the CLA in 2011, in which Hsu Chieh-kui (許介圭), who served
as the head of the council in 1997, was quoted as saying that the council did
not intend to ask the workers to repay their loans, but would ask their
employers to pay back the full amount.
However, the council yesterday denied that the official publication represents
the council’s official view.
“The writing of the book was commissioned to a group of researchers. What it
represents are the views of the researchers, as well as reports by media outlets
at the time,” a council statement said. “The content of the book represents
neither the official view nor the basis on which the government handles the
issue.”
The CLA’s response triggered criticism from Internet users.
“If an official publication does not represent the official view, then what is
it good for?” a Facebook user called Tsung-ying (蹤影) said.
“Bu it’s written in black on white!” said another Facebook user, Nicole Lin
(林凱雯).
In addition to the book, CLA officials were at the time quoted by several
newspapers, including the Chinese-language United Evening News and Economic
Daily News, as saying that the money given to the workers was to be repaid by
their employers, not the workers themselves.
CLA Minister Pan Shih-wei (潘世偉) did not respond to the Taipei Times’ request for
comment.
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