A migrant workers’ union is, once again, calling on the government to create a law to regulate household labor and protect the rights of foreign workers.
The labor ministry says that last year there were 230,000 foreign workers doing household labor in Taiwan. They worked an average of 10.4 hours a day and only 11.4% were allowed to take a day off each week.
At a press conference on Monday, the Taiwan International Workers’ Association’s Chen Siou-lian criticized President Tsai Ing-wen. Chen said that Tsai had promised in 2016 to push for a law to regulate household labor, but no progress has been made since then.
Chen said that foreign workers have been coming to Taiwan to do household labor since 1992, but there have never been labor rights protections. She said foreign workers are subject to extra work and could face problems like sexual harassment. What’s more, if they are unable to work due to a workplace injury, they don’t get paid.