Union urges reforms prior to signing new China trade deals

By Abraham Gerber  /  Staff Reporter

The expansion of unemployment benefits and other legal reforms should be implemented before any new trade agreements with China are considered, the Economic Democracy Union said yesterday.

“The employment safety net, including universal unemployment insurance, should be completed before it would be appropriate to sign free-trade agreements with other nations,” union convener Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) told a news conference. “There are more than 2 million people nationwide who have labor insurance without employment insurance because they are employed by small businesses in the service sector. If these people lose their jobs as a result of a service trade agreement, they would not receive any unemployment benefits.”

While the average number of employees for corporations in the service sector is 4.2, only firms employing more than five workers are required to participate in the insurance scheme, he said, calling for amendments to the Act of Providing Support in Response to Trade Liberalization (因應貿易自由化調整支援條例), along with robust supervisory articles and legislation to regulate Chinese investments in Taiwan.

After taking office, Premier Lin Chuan (林全) said that his Cabinet would wait for the passage of new supervisory articles before taking into consideration the trade in services agreement signed with China under the previous administration, but Lai said the government is seeking to “sneak through” portions of the agreement, citing last month’s relaxation of restrictions on Chinese investment in Taiwanese stocks.

Union members at the news conference announced the results of several case studies analyzing the potential effects of the services in trade agreement and a related proposed trade in goods agreement, focusing on beauticians in Taipei’s Datong District (大同) and old street retailers and metalsmiths in New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang District (新莊).

The union has called for a similar impact analysis at a national level before any new trade agreements are approved, while Lai said that Datong and Sinjhuang were selected to put pressure on DPP legislators Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) and Pasuya Yao (姚文智).

More than half of the nation’s workers are employed in industries that would be affected by the service agreement, Ministry of Economic Affairs data show, Chuan said.