Da-Tone Workers Win Compensation in Historic Labor Struggle

2024/10/23News

The "Da-Tone Dyeing and Finishing" company in Taoyuan unexpectedly announced its closure, leading employees to accuse the company of violating labor laws for nearly 20 years. Taiwanese, Vietnamese, and Thai employees have formed a rare transnational labor union to confront the company head-on. After negotiations, the company has agreed to pay the owed overtime wages, unused leave compensation, return airfare for migrant workers, and accommodation expenses during the transition period for changing employers.

Unannounced Closure of Da-Tone Dyeing and Finishing Sparks Labor-Management Conflict

Da-Tone Dyeing and Finishing, located in the Luzhu area of Taoyuan, was established in 1969, primarily engaged in textile dyeing. Mr. Wang, who began working at the company in its early years, recalls when the company settled the seniority under the old labor law, and veteran employees were converted to contract workers. The first impact was on wages and annual leave.

Mr. Wang, a former Da-Tone employee, said that his salary was reduced by 20-30%, and his 30 days of annual leave were reset to zero. The company later provided seven days of leave, but it has remained unchanged ever since.

Despite the significant reduction in wages and benefits under the contract worker designation, Mr. Wang continued working at Da-Tone Dyeing and Finishing, even being recognized as a model worker, until he was laid off in July this year, after working under contract for 19 years.

Mr. Wang admitted that when he was let go, the company informed him that because he was over 65 years old and did not have labor insurance, he was not entitled to severance pay. However, considering his long and hard service, the chairman gave him NT$20,000 as a token of appreciation.

According to Taiwan's Labor Standards Act, fixed-term contract workers are not entitled to notice pay or severance pay. However, the law also stipulates that only temporary, short-term, seasonal, or specific work qualifies for fixed-term contracts. Therefore, there is a significant controversy over whether Mr. Wang, who worked for the company for 19 years, can be considered a fixed-term contract worker.

More than the legal dispute, Mr. Wang is heartbroken that after working for Da-Tone Dyeing and Finishing from 1972 to 2024, all he received was NT$20,000.

Difficulties in Forming a Union with Both Local and Migrant Workers

Adjacent to the company’s yellow buildings is the dormitory for migrant workers at Da-Tone Dyeing and Finishing. In the factory, whether at work or in daily life, Taiwanese and migrant workers rarely interact, often competing in their respective fields.

Pang Hong-da, secretary of the Taoyuan General Union, believes that migrant workers come to Taiwan with the mindset of working hard, earning money, and quickly sending money back home. To them, completing their work is most important. When it comes to joining a union, they also fear being watched by their supervisors.

Despite these challenges, facing layoffs and closure rumors, Taiwanese and migrant workers from three different countries banded together in July this year to form a union and held a general assembly. However, language has proven to be the biggest obstacle to the union’s operation.

Pang observed that in several meetings, without the translators, workers of different nationalities could barely communicate. They mostly resorted to nodding and using body language.

Due to the language barrier, all discussions have to be divided into groups to collect opinions from the workers of each nationality, then consolidated and repeatedly discussed to reach a consensus.

A Glimmer of Hope in Negotiations! Will Migrant Workers Regularly Join Unions?

As various negotiations proceeded, the Da-Tone Dyeing and Finishing union continued to mobilize for petitions, often switching between three languages at protest sites.

After negotiations between labor and management, the Da-Tone Dyeing and Finishing union successfully achieved its goals. The company agreed to pay legally required amounts, including owed overtime wages, compensation for unused leave, return airfare for migrant workers, and accommodation expenses during the transition to new employers.

After calculations, Da-Tone Dyeing and Finishing agreed to provide, in addition to legally required severance pay, a plant closure compensation of 1.5 months' salary for employees with less than 10 years of service, and 2 months' salary for those with more than 10 years. Additionally, they will provide compensation of NT$10,000 to NT$80,000 for local employees and NT$40,000 to NT$50,000 for migrant workers, depending on their years of service.

Yao Guang-zu, secretary of the Taoyuan General Union, bluntly stated that migrant worker issues are labor issues, and that problems affecting local workers often affect migrant workers as well. With the increasing number of migrant workers, there is a fear that without recruiting them as union members, unions may not be able to secure a majority.

Labor movement observers have noted that more and more unions in various industries are beginning to recruit migrant workers as members, and it is becoming more common to see unions partnering with migrant workers in the workplace.

[Compiled by Li Jie-ling and Zhang Zhi-long, Organized by Huang Yu-ting, Edited by Lin Zhe-hong]2024-10-22 11:00

[Photo from Unsplash / MRC Témiscamingue ]