Taipei, Dec. 26 (CNA) A coalition of migrant rights groups and migrant worker organizations rallied outside the Ministry of Labor (MOL) in Taipei on Sunday to call on the public to join them on a march next month to push the government to allow blue-collared migrant workers to change employers.
Migrant workers can currently change jobs only if their employer dies, factory closes down, fishing boat sinks, or some other reason that is not the fault of the worker, such as if the employer breaks the law, said Taiwanese Ella Weng (翁倩文), a representative from the Migrants Empowerment Network in Taiwan (MENT), a coalition of seven migrant rights groups. MENT is also the organizer of the labor rights march which will take place on January 16.
Outside of those reasons, a migrant worker can only change jobs if her employer agrees, Weng added.
"As Taiwanese, we all know what freedom is, but if migrant workers need their employers to agree to them changing jobs, is that really freedom?" Weng questioned. "If Taiwanese needed the signature of their employers to resign from their jobs, could you accept that?"
Weng asked Taiwanese to put themselves in the shoes of migrant workers and understand the struggles they have to go through.
Taipei, Dec. 26 (CNA) A coalition of migrant rights groups and migrant worker organizations rallied outside the Ministry of Labor (MOL) in Taipei on Sunday to call on the public to join them on a march next month to push the government to allow blue-collared migrant workers to change employers.
Migrant workers can currently change jobs only if their employer dies, factory closes down, fishing boat sinks, or some other reason that is not the fault of the worker, such as if the employer breaks the law, said Taiwanese Ella Weng (翁倩文), a representative from the Migrants Empowerment Network in Taiwan (MENT), a coalition of seven migrant rights groups. MENT is also the organizer of the labor rights march which will take place on January 16.
Outside of those reasons, a migrant worker can only change jobs if her employer agrees, Weng added.
"As Taiwanese, we all know what freedom is, but if migrant workers need their employers to agree to them changing jobs, is that really freedom?" Weng questioned. "If Taiwanese needed the signature of their employers to resign from their jobs, could you accept that?"
Weng asked Taiwanese to put themselves in the shoes of migrant workers and understand the struggles they have to go through.
The march will take place on Jan. 16, with attendees gathering at Taipei Main Station's west entrance at noon before proceeding at 1 p.m. to the headquarters of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and then to the MOL building, said MENT in a statement.
There were a total of 675,672 migrant workers in Taiwan at the end of November, according to MOL statistics.
