[APWSLMembers 82] FW: Thai workers riot against `unfair' firm

[parat Nanakhorn]

>From: ¬hÚ{¬Â <wanling0726 at yahoo.com.tw>
>To: Miao <nanakornp at yahoo.com>, Miao <paratn at hotmail.com>
>Subject: Thai workers riot against `unfair' firm
>Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 19:16:40 +0800 (CST)
>
>
>---------------------------------
>Published on TaipeiTimes
>http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2005/08/23/2003268802
>
>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
>  Thai workers clear debris from a riot in Kaohsiung yesterday. More than 
>1,700 Thai workers set fire to a management shack, burnt cars and hurled 
>rocks at police after their employers refused to allow them to drink, smoke 
>and use cellphones when they were off work, police said yesterday. The 
>violence erupted late on Sunday among the workers, hired to help build a 
>mass-transit railway project in Kaohsiung.
>PHOTO: REUTERS
>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.
>  Thai workers living in cramped conditions in dormitories. The lack of 
>basic freedoms led to a riot yesterday at worker dormitories in Kaohsiung.
>PHOTO: WANG RONG-HSIANG, TAIPEI TIMES
>"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 (¤è¨Ó¶i), 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 (¿à«lÅï), 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 (Áªø§Ê) 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
>
>

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