Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
Population:
23,000,000
Capital: Taipei
Capital: Taipei
Trade unionists are particularly targeted for dismissal as was the case in Young Fast Optoelectronics. Recent changes to the labour law have however strengthened trade union rights.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
Not a member state
Not a member state
reported violations - 2011
Background
Taiwan and China signed a free-trade agreement on 29 June. It should greatly increase bilateral trade but opponents of this pact in Taiwan pact fear the flooding of their market with cheap Chinese products and an increase in unemployment.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
Not a member state
Not a member state
Population:
23,000,000
Capital: Taipei
Capital: Taipei
reported violations- 2011
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
Trade union rights in law
Changes to labour laws have strengthened the protection of trade union rights. Most recently, the Labour Union Law was amended on 1 June 2010 and brought a number of significant improvements. Teachers are now allowed to join unions and migrant workers now also have the right to take part in unions’ director and supervisor elections. A number of workers, including fire-fighters and medical personnel are still denied the right to organise, and civil servants may only form associations.
In 2009, the Settlement of Labor-Management Dispute Act was also amended to better secure the right to strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
. The procedures for calling a strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
, including the voting system, were facilitated, and the conditions and areas under which a strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
can be called were clearly specified. While strikes are not allowed in the case of “rights items”, which are defined as items already agreed upon e.g. in collective agreements, the Act provides for judicial procedures to resolve such disputes whereas previously only mediation
mediation
A process halfway between conciliation and arbitration, in mediation a neutral third party assists the disputing parties in reaching a settlement to an industrial dispute by suggesting possible, non-binding solutions.
See arbitration, conciliation
was available. In addition to teachers, civil servants and public employees are not allowed to go on strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
.
Freedom of association / Right to organize
Principles
Freedom of association :
- >The right to freedom of association is regulated by law.
The Labour Union Law was amended on 1 June 2010 and brought a number of significant improvements to trade union rights. The law also stipulates that all workers are required to join unions, but does not provides for any penalties for failure to do so.
Anti-Union discrimination:
- >The law prohibits anti-union discrimination.
The law stipulates that employers are not allowed to dismiss or reduce the salary of workers who join unions and engage in union activities, and provides for a maximum fine of TWD 300,000.
Restrictions
Categories of workers prohibited or limited in law from forming or joining a union, or from holding a union office:
- >Armed forces
- >Police
- >Other civil servants and public employees
- The Civil Servants' Association Law allows civil servants the right to organise professional associations, which do not in any way equate to trade unions. Under the Teachers' Law, teachers may also form associations but not trade unions. Defence industry workers, firefighters, doctors and medical personnel are not permitted to form and join unions.
- >Non-national or migrant workers
- Migrant workers can join trade unions, but only Taiwanese citizens may hold leadership positions.
Right to collective bargaining
Principles
Right to collective bargaining:
- >The right to collective bargaining is recognised by law.
Right to strike
Principles
Right to strike:
- >The right to strike is recognised by law but strictly regulated.
Restrictions
Legal barriers to lawful strike actions:
- >Other excessively complex or time-consuming formalities to call a strike
- The Labour Union Law and the Settlement of Labour Disputes Law prescribe extensive procedures for reaching employer/workers agreement in the case of labour problems and conflicts. Failing that, a long procedure must be followed prior to calling a strike.
- >Compulsory recourse to arbitration, or to long and complex conciliation and mediation procedures prior to strike actions
- The Settlement of Labour Disputes Law authorises the government to impose conciliation or arbitration procedures, and the law forbids workers and employers from disturbing the “work routine”, either through strikes or employer retaliation measures, while such a procedure is taking place.
Provisions undermining the recourse to strike actions or their effectiveness:
- >Excessive civil or penal sanctions for workers and unions involved in non-authorised strike actions
- The Settlement of Labour Disputes Law imposes severe fines on workers who resort to a strike while a conciliation or arbitration procedure is taking place.
Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors:
- >Undue restrictions for "public servants"
- Teachers are not allowed to take strike action, nor are defence industry workers, firefighters, doctors and medical personnel.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
Not a member state
Not a member state
Population:
23,000,000
Capital: Taipei
Capital: Taipei
reported violations - 2011
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
In practice
Limited collective bargaining: Barely 5% of the work force is covered by the 49 collective agreements in force, the majority in large companies. The content of these conventions rarely exceed the minimum stipulated by law.
Trade union members are first in line when it comes to dismissals: Even if the 1929 law on trade unions prohibits anti-trade union discrimination, it does not provide for penalties in case of the wrongful dismissal of leaders or members of trade unions. Many trade unionists are amongst the first to be dismissed during a restructuring or are dismissed for minor reasons.
Limited intervention from labour inspections in the Export Processing Zones: The law is in force in the two Export Processing Zones of Kaohsiung and Taichung but the inspectors rarely intervene because they are largely controlled by an authority under the supervision of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
Not a member state
Not a member state
Population:
23,000,000
Capital: Taipei
Capital: Taipei
reported violations - 2011
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
Violations
Wave of anti-trade union dismissals at Young Fast Optoelectronics: On 12 March, a company which manufacturers touch screens, Young Fast Optoelectronics (YFO), who supply equipment to Samsung, LG, HTC and Google, fired five leaders and ten members of the trade union which had been set up within the company in 2009. The dismissals took place after the trade union had criticised serious violations of the law and indecent working conditions. The management justified these dismissals using the pretext that their manufacturing line had been transferred to China, but the Taiwanese trade unionists are convinced that this was a deliberate act to disband the trade union and a serious breach of labour law. The YFO factory is located in Tao-Yuan.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
Not a member state
Not a member state
Population:
23,000,000
Capital: Taipei
Capital: Taipei
reported violations - 2011
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher