U.S. Messes with China and Taiwan Rapprochement

     My Facebook friend D., the guy who used to teach with me at the bushiban for a few years, shared Courtney Smith's Taiwan U.S. news-feed from MSN about Taiwan testing missiles there; I cryptically chided D. for spreading corny propaganda. It’s the uninitiated youth, and old fools, who’ll not see the U.S. ulterior motive. I unsubscribed from the Taiwan News page from Corny (who called me “Flaky”) a year ago when his moderator twice removed my post which he found disagreeable. No doubt Taiwan News will add Lady Gaga’s banishment from China over Dali Lama support, too, without giving both sides.

Look at these reactionary articles printed in U.S. English media:

China 'bans Lady Gaga' after Dalai Lama meeting

Communist party’s propaganda department reportedly issues ‘important instruction’ blocking singer’s entire repertoire from mainland

US slaps China steel imports with fivefold tax increase

The US has raised its import duties on Chinese steelmakers by more than fivefold after accusing them of selling their products below market prices

Taiwan 'to test-fire missiles in US' as China tensions rise

Taiwan plans to test-fire its newest anti-missile system for the first time in the United States next month as relations with rival China deteriorate, a defence (sic.) source and media reports said Monday.

Relations between China and Taiwan have cooled rapidly under the island's new Beijing-sceptic president Tsai Ing-wen, who took office in May, ending an eight-year rapprochement.

(So nice, they mentioned it twice.)

Wishful thinking and reactionary propaganda.

When the U.S. cut Japan's trade links, it started WW II in 

Asia. Can't the U.S. protect American jobs without blaming other nations? After all, U.S. sweatshops abroad make American business people rich and American workers poor. what the heck! 

The U.S. will spread any news detrimental to China (and against Taiwan rapprochement) twisting it with half-truths and innuendos. The U.S. couldn't care less about Tibetan Buddhism or oppressed people; if they did they would give America back to the Native Americans and let Taiwan become independent; they had their chance in 1947 and blew it supporting the KMT's 228 massacre.

Greenpeace calls for reduction in garments waste

‘FAST FASHION’:Rapid changes in fashion are fueling waste, with people owning an average of 75 garments, of which 20% are hardly worn at all

By Chen Wei-han  /  Staff reporter

Taiwanese throw away 5.2 million pieces of clothing and 5.4 million pairs of shoes every year, which, coupled with the fast turnaround in the fashion industry, has a dramatic impact on the environment, Greenpeace Taiwan said yesterday.

The environmental group yesterday revealed what it said was the first survey on clothing disposal behavior in Taiwan.

People aged 20 to 45 own an average of 75 garments, of which 20 percent are hardly worn at all, Greenpeace pollution prevention project manager Chen Ling-yao (陳玲瑤) said.

One out of two people interviewed said they have clothes in their closet that they have not worn in two months, Chen said.

RECYCLING

“While 73 percent of interviewees said they recycle used clothes, it does not help reduce the amount of garments thrown away every year,” Chen said.

“Thanks to fast fashion, the amount of clothes discarded every year has increased. A similar investigation by Greenpeace in Hong Kong observed the same phenomenon,” she said.

Clothes used to be designed and made at a three-month intervals, but they are now being designed, manufactured and sold in a few weeks, which has led to environmental problems and labor issues, Chen said.

Showing photographs of a highly polluted river in Indonesia, the group said the textile industry has caused dramatic damage to the environment with chemical dyes and mass production.

However, not all people know about the adverse environmental impact and human right violations of the fashion industry.

Nearly 60 percent of respondents said they know that chemicals used in producing garments are harmful to the environment and the body, Greenpeace’s survey showed.

UNINFORMED

About 46 percent of respondents said they know about unsatisfactory work conditions at textile factories, and 38 percent said they are aware of the issue of child labor in the fashion industry.

The public is not well-informed about environmentally friendly clothing and products, as more than half of respondents had never purchased environmentally friendly clothing because they either did not know where to buy them or that such products exist.

In addition, 60 percent of respondents said they had never bought second-hand clothes, and 72 percent said they had never bought clothing made of recycled materials.

The organization called on the public to lead a more minimalist lifestyle by purchasing less and throwing fewer clothes away.

Consumers are advised to purchase “green” textile and fair trade products that cause minimal damage to the environment and worker’s welfare.

The survey was conducted in January, and 1,000 valid samples were collected, with a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

Business groups to suspend labor negotiations

Staff writer, with CNA

Seven major business groups yesterday said they would terminate all labor negotiations on wages if the government fails to honor an agreement to cut the number of officially designated holidays per year from 19 to 12, as part of the government’s plans to implement a universal 40-hour workweek.

The controversy came after the Ministry of Labor on Monday last week announced the restoration of seven public holidays that the previous government had planned to cut from workers’ yearly holiday schedule.

The Executive Yuan on Tuesday last week officially annulled an amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法施行細則) that would have removed seven public holidays from workers’ entitlements.

The restoration of the holidays comes a week after labor groups lodged a protest against the loss of the seven public holidays in front of the Executive Yuan building in Taipei.

The ministry held 35 hearings last year, at which labor and management representatives reached an agreement to cut weekly working hours from 84 hours over a two-week period to 40 hours per week, paving the way for the amendment’s implementation from Jan. 1 next year, Chinese National Federation of Industries chairman Hsu Sheng-hsiung (許勝雄) said.

The amendment was designed to guarantee workers two days off per week and reduce legal working hours from 84 hours every two weeks to 40 hours per week.

Despite the overall increase in total days off, there were terms and conditions attached to the amendment — lifting the monthly limit for overtime from 46 to 54 hours and axing seven public holidays — to protect workers’ rights to paid holidays and offset firms’ operating costs, Hsu said.

After deducting the seven national holidays, workers would receive the equivalent of additional six days off per year, Hsu added.

However, the amendment has been annulled, as the government breached the agreement, he said.

According to a ministry report, South Koreans worked an average of 2,124 hours in 2010, while workers in Singapore and Hong Kong clocked up 2,392 hours and Taiwanese worked 2,134 hours in the same year.

If the seven national holidays were cut, Taiwanese would work an average of 2,086 hours, still fewer than their counterparts in South Korea and Singapore, Hsu said.

Hsu urged the government to stick to the agreement reached and work to push the amendment through the Legislative Yuan.

Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce chairman Lin Por-fong (林伯豐) also called on the government to fulfill the agreement.

Lin had said that for every additional seven days off for workers, wage costs would increase by 2 percent for companies.

Minister of Labor Kuo Fan-yu (郭芳煜) said he hopes the major business groups will not suspend negotiations with workers over wage issues.

Kuo said he would communicate with the business groups regarding the government’s stance.

About 20 labor rights activists stormed into the Chinese National Federation of Industries head office, where the seven business associations were holding a news conference and issued their statement.

CAL union members to ‘go on leave’

[Update: the un-voted "day-off" gained psudo-strike victory for the CAEU, with the leader resigning mysteriously afterward.] 

CAL union members to ‘go on leave’

STRIKE TWO?The China Airlines Employees Union, which includes ground staff, pilots and maintenance workers, is seeking some of the benefits won by flight attendants

By Jonathan Chin  /  Staff writer, with CNA

China Airlines chairman Ho Nuan-hsuan, center, attends his first talks with the China Airlines Employee Union yesterday in Taipei.

Photo: CNA

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The union of China Airlines (CAL, 中華航空), the nation’s largest airline company, yesterday announced that its members would “go on leave” on Friday after talks with management earlier in the day failed to reach a conclusion.

That could mean the airline is hit by a another strike, this time at the start of the summer travel season, after similar action by CAL flight attendants paralyzed most of the airline’s flights on Friday and Saturday.

Members of the China Airlines Employees Union, which covers ground staff, pilots, maintenance workers and other China Airlines employees, are seeking some of the same benefits won by the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union on Friday.

The China Airlines Employees Union demands that the airline restore the long-frozen annual seniority-based raises and backpay accrued during the seniority freeze.

It also demands that the commuting hours of all CAL employees be included in the calculation of their work hours, that the travel allowance for all pilots and cabin crew members be raised to US$5 per hour, that the subsidy for ground staff members be increased, and that their number of annual holidays be increased from 118 to 123 days.

Other requests include increasing benefits and other remuneration for hourly-paid workers, increasing the subsidy for professional certificates and providing lodging and transportation to employees assigned to work in a foreign country, while maintaining their subsidies.

The China Airlines Employees Union’s first round of negotiations with new CAL chairman Ho Nuan-hsuan (何煖軒) yesterday appeared to have gone badly, with the talks beginning at 10am and ending at 3:30pm, with three breaks called to calm participants, which did not seem to have the desired effect.

Before the negotiations began, union representatives took offense at Ho’s tardiness and responded by pounding the table when he appeared 15 minutes late.

Following hours of heated exchanges, the first round of negotiations closed without reaching consensus on any of the eight union demands.

The negotiations broke down after Ho asked the union to allow him to respond to the requests in two weeks’ time, which was rejected.

Ho, who assumed the post on Thursday last week, said he had not seen the demands before yesterday, and as a result could not “give yes or no answers to them at the present time.”

“Some of these demands are essay questions instead of yes or no questions, which makes it impossible for me to say yes or no on the spot,” he said.

Union representatives said that they had forwarded their list of demands last week, to which Ho said he would have preferred “a final list, not a rough one. I cannot be expected to respond or discuss a rough [draft] list.”

A union representative asked why Ho was able to respond to the demands of the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union within three or four days’ time without consulting the balance sheets.

Ho said he had received information about the flight attendants’ strike prior to taking office, and that estimates of the costs had been calculated beforehand.

CAL was founded with government funds in 1959 and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications remains a major shareholder.

Separately yesterday, the Employees’ Union of Mandarin Airlines, (華信航空) CAL’s subsidiary, also threatened to strike if the company fails to answer its demand for the same wages and subsidies for its flight attendants as those received by CAL flight attendants.

My Opinion: "Sweetheart" CAL Union Urges Concessions, Threatens Strike

  The Taiwan labor department, China Airlines management, and a break-away faction of a "sweetheart" labor union reached an agreement to turn back the work attacks on the CAL union workers. 

     The last straw was management's insistence that all workers in the Taipei area of Taiwan clock in at Tao-Yuan airport instead of the more convenient local Sung-Shan Airport. It is a victory for Taiwan Airlines' flight attendant workers in northern Taiwan!

     The Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union (TFAU) was formed with the help of a thirty-year China Airlines retiree when the "sweetheart" China Airlines Employees Union (CAEU) did nothing to stem the downturn in employees salary and increase in their workload. For example, in 1996, flight attendants earned between 70-80,000 NT a month ($2335-$2666 us); now it is down to 50-60,000, while their workload went from 60-90 hours to 75-120 hours a month. 

      Through a collection of passports necessary for flight attendants to travel at work, and be scabs, the union faction got almost complete adherence to the strike, with few scabs. The one "scab" they did make an exception for was President Tsai Ying-Wen who was to fly on her first overseas trip on China Airlines. Otherwise, the one day strike was a success and a role model for every worker in Taiwan to stand firm and start their own independent union. 

    Despite voicing displeasure that all China Airline workers were not a part of the agreement, the CAEU, formed by KMT leadership as "sweetheart" union, they aplauded the victory. Most CAL workers, as in other "official" unions, are indebted and loyal to management; no strike work action was ever promoted. 

     The flight attendants ratio of one per twenty-five airborne passengers twenty years ago has expanded over the years to fifty passengers each. In a typical  layover between assignments,  New Zealand to Taoyuan run, a ten day stay was allowed in 1996 but has been chiseled away  to a twenty-four hour layover, barely enough time to rest and prepare for the next flight, a flight that can be twenty hours long with one stop-over.

      The official CAEU has lost face with the 8,000 members employees they represent and are publicly criticizing the TFAU faction demanding better working conditions for workers who they have not lifted a finger for in the past.  They are threatening a strike, too. [Update: the un-voted "day-off" gained psudo-strike victory for the CAEU, with the leader resigning mysteriously afterward.] If the TFAU action has caused the "sweetheart" CAEU to finally demand reversal of eroded benefits for all China Airline employees, that is good, though suspect. Most non-flight attendant China Airline employees still get their job through KMT connections and have special benefits other workers don't have. 

     The hope is that the action and victory of the TFAU can spread to other airline workers and oppressed workers all over Taiwan. For instance, EVA airline workers have to sign an agreement not to unionize when hired; those workers need union protection, too. 

     Ironically, only the Taoyuan China Airline flight attendants  will benefit from the strike settlement, while other CAL flight attendants, such as those in Kaohsiung, though they showed solidarity with their sister and brother workers in the north, will not benefit; in fact, their jobs may be in jeopardy by vindictive CAL management. 
    What would be best for all workers is industrial unionism, such as in the IWW, where all employees in an industry show solidarity and benefit in a work action. However, with "sweetheart" unions designed by the government to obstruct in dependent unionism, breaking away is legitimate.
    The media uses the specter of "communism" to stifle unionism. It is also used by the KMT to support business interests and stifle union solidarity.  In the media, the leader of the more militant CAEU faction, has been branded; she was a member of Cooloud, an anti-WTO labor organization opposed to Taiwan independence or laissez-faire U.S. dependence. This  may be used to discourage unionism. Workers  should be aware of this tactic to divide them when unionizing and not be discouraged. 
   The DPP has started on the right foot by giving Taiwan workers a hand by returning the seven vacation holidays taken away from them. Hopefully, a new era in workers' rights is dawning in Taiwan.

Foreign workers reform bill passes first reading

DEATH THREATS?Legislator Lin Shu-fen said she has been threatened by labor agencies over her proposed laws, adding that if she dies, police should investigate

By Loa Iok-sin  /  Staff reporter, with CNA

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Shu-fen yesterday makes a "no suicide declaration" at the legislature, saying that she has received death threats from manpower agencies.

Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times

An amendment to allow foreign workers to remain in Taiwan without having to leave the nation when they have worked for three years passed its first reading at the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee yesterday.

The amendment to the Employment Service Act (就業服務法) would allow foreign workers who have lived in Taiwan for more than three years to be rehired directly without having to first leave the nation, a move designed to benefit both employers and foreign workers.

Workforce Development Agency Director-General Huang Chiu-kuei (黃秋桂) said the revision marks a noticeable improvement in the nation’s history of human rights protection.

In the future, all types of foreign workers can extend their work years in Taiwan without having to leave the nation and apply for a new visa, Huang said.

The new measure would not only save foreign workers time and money — with labor brokers demanding fees in their home countries — but would also help Taiwanese employers avoid periods without their employees, along with training costs, she said.

There are 595,695 foreign workers in Taiwan, about 240,000 of whom are from Indonesia, according to Ministry of Labor statistics.

Before the revision clears the Legislative Yuan, about 14,000 of them would need to leave each year to be able to continue working here, the ministry said.

In such cases, some foreign workers need to pay brokerage or other fees to re-enter the nation, the ministry said.

In some countries, brokerage fees pose a serious burden for people seeking to work overseas, it said, adding that the fee is about NT$50,000 to NT$54,000 in Indonesia, while the figure could reach as high as NT$120,000 for Vietnamese workers.

The amendments were proposed by Democratic Progressive Party legislators Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) and Wu Yu-chin (吳玉琴).

Meanwhile, during a legislative meeting yesterday, a tearful Lin read her “no suicide statement,” saying that she has been threatened by some labor agencies for pushing through regulations in favor of foreign workers.

Lin said that she has received threats from labor agencies.

“Wu and I are struggling to protect the rights of foreign workers, but since we are blocking some people from making more money, some labor agencies are spreading false rumors on the Internet and have even threatened my life,” Lin said. “I therefore would like to announce that I will not commit suicide over anything, and, if I die [in what seems like an] accident, I ask that the police launch an investigation.”

Lin said that, despite being threatened, she would not give up defending foreign workers’ rights against exploitation by labor agencies, adding that she would take legal action against those who spread false rumors about her.

“It is a shame that Taiwan has often been listed as a nation with human trafficking problems by international human rights groups because of how we mistreat foreign workers,” Lin said. “We must make a change.”

AIRLINE STRIKE: CAL, union reach deal to end action

CONCESSIONS:The CAL chairman told flight attendants that there would be no settling of scores and the company would review conditions

By Abraham Gerber  /  Staff reporter

Passengers throng the China Airlines counter at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday as the airline’s flights were canceled due to a strike by flight attendants.

Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times

A preliminary agreement between China Airlines (CAL, 中華航空) and the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union was reached last night to end the union’s strike, with the firm agreeing to demands for new holiday and working hour guarantees, along with extra pay for overseas stationing.

Following five hours of negotiations between the two sides at the Ministry of Labor, Deputy Minister of Labor Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) announced that they had reached a preliminary consensus, including increasing extra pay for overseas stationing from US$3 to US$5 per hour, with agreement terms stipulating that only union members would receive the increase.

The firm also agreed to drop requirements that flight attendants sign agreements to allow increases in overtime hours, while also agreeing to new holiday guarantees and increased holiday pay.

Negotiations over agreement wording was still being finalized at press time last night, with any agreement subject to a vote by union members.

There was no word on whether CAL flights would resume today.

The settlement followed an announcement by new CAL chairman Ho Nuan-hsuan (何煖軒) in a speech protesting flight attendants’ actions yesterday afternoon that the company would drop a policy to have flight attendants report for work at the Taoyuan airport rather than Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), meeting a union precondition for initiating talks.

CAL’s announcement of the new policy that began on June 1 had served as the impetus for the current strike drive, with union members maintaining that the policy would unfairly increase work hours for flight attendants who had previously reported to Songshan airport.

The strike forced massive flight cancelations yesterday with more than 20,000 passengers affected, according to company estimates.

Ho said there was substantial room for “critical examination” of the firm’s coping strategy for the strike, while promising there would be no “settling of scores” against individual union members after the strike concludes.

Ho added he hoped “to have good communications with the union” and pledged to take into consideration the rights and health of staff.

He also said that “unreasonable conditions would be reviewed” and that he would handle the strike properly, adding that it is “my [his] responsibility.”

Ho was appointed the new CAL chairman on Thursday, replacing Sun Hung-hsiang (孫洪祥), Hsieh Shih-chien (謝世謙), head of TACT Logistics, which is also part of the China Airlines Group, was named CAL president yesterday by Premier Lin Chuan (林全), replacing Chang Yu-hern (張有恆).

Following the union’s strike declaration on Thursday night, hundreds of flight attendants in blue vests and headbands camped out outside of China Airlines headquarters, with union tents occupying several lanes of Nanjing E Road, a major artery road.

Following an overnight vigil on Thursday, the union yesterday began instituting protests, dividing all members into three 12-hour shifts and requiring members to attend regularly or risk expulsion.

Union members turned in their passports, Taiwan Compatriot Permits and company ID cards to union officials throughout the day as part of union measures to prevent strikebreaking, wearing official union IDs around their necks to prove that their passports had been turned in.

The union also said the airline had deliberately canceled more flights than necessary.

“We are extremely apologetic to travelers for the great inconvenience, but we have to reiterate that this strike is entirely because China Airlines refused to negotiate with us,” union vice president Steven Chang (張書元) said, adding that China Airline’s decision to cancel flights was “worthless.”

The union’s decision to start the strike on Thursday was a surprise following previous statements that the action would begin next month during the peak of summer season travel.

Union leaders yesterday said that their main consideration for choosing Thursday was the need to demonstrate their resolve to fight for member rights following the leadership changes, which saw Lin appoint Ho, a former Taoyuan Metro Corp chairman, as CAL’s new chairman.

“This is the moment when we have to force the government to take a stance, particular because the firm’s new board will meet today,” union director (理事) Anderson Shen (沈家源) said, adding that the date was not intended to take advantage of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) first overseas trip yesterday.

The Ministry of Transportation is a major shareholder in CAL, which was founded by the government in 1959.

Meanwhile, Sun and Chang, who stepped down as CAL chairman and president earlier yesterday, issued a letter to the public and staff, after presiding over a shareholders’ meeting, saying that they “are insisting on the right things.”

Expressing their deepest apologies for the inconvenience caused by the strike, they said that the demands of the union were clear, but questioned whether they were fair.

They asked whether “it is fair” that in the same company flight attendants report for work at Songshan airport while ground staff have to report at the Taoyuan airport.

The company has pushed for years for its employees whose duties originate at Taoyuan airport to report for work there, the letter said, and the flight attendants are the last group to whom the practice is being applied.

“As managers, our policy must consider the feelings of all of the staff,” the letter said.

“We have continued to stress that if there were problems with the practice after a month, we would review the situation and make adjustments immediately, but the union went on strike even before the one-month period was up,” it added.

Additional reporting by CNA

Groups accuse Tsai of ‘stacking’ pension committee

PULLING STRINGS:President Tsai’s reform efforts are the manipulations of a capitalist government, national pension reform committee member Liu Ya-ping said

By Abraham Gerber  /  Staff reporter

Veterans, civil servants and teachers’ organizations at a rally in Taipei yesterday break open a black box symbolizing the non-transparent manner in which they say the government has handled pension-related issues.

Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times

Veterans, civil servants and teachers’ organizations rallied outside the Presidential Office Building yesterday, accusing the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of “stacking the cards” when selecting members of the national pension reform committee.

Hundreds of protesters from the Pension Reform Watchdog Alliance — a consortium of more than 30 veterans, civil servants and teachers’ groups — marched from 228 Peace Memorial Park to the Taipei Guest House to send off four representatives to the committee’s first meeting, applauding and cheering as the representatives marched toward the Presidential Office Building.

Protesters shouted that they could support reform, but would oppose any “shoddy changes,” demanding that their rights and dignity be protected.

The committee has been billed by the government as a body to build consensus and draft reform plans for the nation’s diverse patchwork of pension schemes for members of different professions, most of which are likely to go bankrupt with the next few decades.

The fear that the relatively generous benefits enjoyed by former civil servants, military personnel and public school teachers will be targeted was palpable at the rally, which saw representative of teachers, civil servants, veterans and employees of state-owned enterprises breaking a “black box” signifying the opaque selection of committee representatives, pulling out “black hands” of “promise breaking” and retroactive benefit cuts.

Vice president of the National Federation of Education Unions and national pension reform committee representative Liu Ya-ping (劉亞平) said that Tsai’s reform efforts are the “manipulations of a capitalist government.”

“[Minister Without Portfolio] Lin Wan-i (林萬億) was allowed to select whoever he wanted for the committee, so most representatives are the government’s ‘hired thugs’ (打手),” he said, accusing Lin — who is responsible for pension reform efforts — with “rigging” the results of committee deliberations.

“If I get to choose committee members, the final conclusion it reaches will be my own,” he said, calling for a separate grassroots committee to be convened, with results of deliberation put to a referendum vote.

“Without tax and budget justice, there can no pension reforms,” he said. “Right now, the government and capitalists are unwilling to put up the necessary funds, forcing workers and others who are hired to fight over scraps.”

“We can support reforms, but not absolutely equal benefits for all, because each occupation is different,” said Wu Shih-huai (吳斯懷), a retired general and vice president of the National Army Schools Alumni Association. “What have we done wrong? We do not want to retire in our 40s, but we have to because the nation wants able-bodied soldiers.”

“We sacrifice our youth to the nation and suffer long absences from our families — our pensions are not ‘benefits’; they are our rights, just like salaries,” he said. “If you are going to cut pensions, you should also pay the overtime we are owed for being on duty 24-7 for 20 to 30 years.”

Taiwan Railways Administration Workers Union chairman Hsieh Sheng-ming (謝勝明) said that there should be a review of how pension funds are funds are managed rather than tax increases, adding that mismanagement of the funds had contributed to impending bankruptcy.