Taiwan technical groups accused of shutting down migrant workers

Electronics groups, including Japan’s Canon and Innolux, a subsidiary of Apple’s Foxconn supplier, have been accused of shutting down migrant workers in Taiwan when a Covid-19 outbreak affected the country’s technology industry.

The allegations highlight the labor practices used to maintain Taiwan’s position as a manufacturing powerhouse of technology. The country is a key hub of the chip industry, an even more crucial position as the world faces a semiconductor crisis.

According to internal documents and staff communications seen by the Financial Times, companies, which also include Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL), a unit of the world’s largest chip testing and packaging house, ASE, have banned migrant workers. get out of the bedrooms where they live. except to go to work.

Although Taiwan’s exports have grown thanks to strong global demand for chips, servers, laptops and other equipment needed to work from home, the country has been struggling in recent weeks with its first major outbreak of coronavirus infections. From Taiwan the economy grew almost 9% in the first quarter.

“It has now become extremely common for employers to shut down their migrant workers,” said Lennon Wong, an activist with the People Services Association. A labor rights group survey found that 60% of migrant workers are banned from going out in their spare time, double the percentage before Taiwan registers. first significant community outbreak in mid-May.

In April, 713,000 migrant workers, mostly from the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia, worked in Taiwan, which accounted for 8% of the country’s workforce. More than 60% work in factories, including those that dominate global electronic component supply chains.

“Discrimination against migrant workers in Taiwan is systemic, but the pandemic has made it much worse,” Wong said.

Employers, who are legally required to provide accommodation and food to migrant workers, primarily outsource these services to brokers who try to keep costs as low as possible. On average, between four and 12 workers share a room.

Under pressure from health authorities to prevent new groupings of factories, employers have imposed new restrictions in the last two weeks that go beyond any rules introduced by the central government.

Canon, a Japanese optical products company, confined migrant workers at its Taichung factory to their dormitories when it was out of service and even warned them not to chat. “Except for work and coming back, don’t get out of the bedroom,” Canon said in an internal blog post. He added: “Group conversation is not allowed in the bedroom [sic]”.

Canon acknowledged that the edict could have been overly strict. “We can’t deny that the content and expression we used was excessive in some parts as a result of focusing too much on the safety of employees and the community. In response to questions raised from within and outside the ‘Company, we reviewed the content on June 18 in accordance with government advice,’ the company said in a statement to FT.

Innolux migrant workers received a message on 13 June stating: “Please be informed that all of you have been locked up for 30 days since yesterday. You are no longer allowed to go out, so please just stay in the bedroom as long as possible and follow the rules imposed by innolux mate, this is all for everyone’s safety. [sic]”.

Innolux said the corridor leading to the bedroom sent the message due to “erroneous communication” between the corridor and the company.

ASE and its subsidiary SPIL demanded in June that migrant workers living outside the facility return to their dormitories, where they were barred from leaving except to go to work. According to two workers from ASE and SPIL, the migrant staff must log in to their bedroom with an electronic pass within one hour after the end of their shift. Those who arrive late are locked up and interrogated.

ASE said it had “established a policy that required our migrant workers to observe a“ point-to-point ”schedule. For example, from the bedroom to work and vice versa. This is to ensure that they try to stay in their bedrooms / residences. after work and avoid unnecessary travel and group meetings “.

SPIL said epidemic prevention measures in its dormitories were following directions from Taiwanese health authorities. “The company respects the choice of migrant workers over whether they want to go back to the bedroom and encourages them to go out less.”

However, instructions given to staff on June 5 said, “To protect the health of all employees, the company has banned the departure of all employees. […] the company and the bedroom will check the factory time in the bedroom every day ”.

After cluster infections reached several electronics factories in Miaoli County, western Taiwan, local head of government Hsu Yao-chang announced on June 7 that migrant workers in the county were banned from leaving. their factories and bedrooms. The restrictions were much tougher than the soft blockade imposed on the general population.

The move was criticized by Tseng Wen-hsueh, a Miaoli lawmaker. “The reason migrant workers are at increased risk of infection is the fact that they have to live in crowded dormitories,” he said. “We should not address people by their nationality, but address the real issue.”

No central government official has spoken out against the restrictions on foreign workers. No other local government in areas with technology factories has introduced restrictions like those in Miaoli.

Some employers resort to scare tactics. “If you are infected with Covid-19, if you die, your body will be cremated immediately in Taiwan, your family will not even be able to see your body and your family’s finances will be disconnected immediately,” said Alibaba, a Taiwanese labor intermediary, in a message sent to migrant workers. “If you do not die, you will be responsible for all rates of isolation during isolation, medical treatment and other people who have been in contact with you.”