Workers at Taoyuan in northwest Taiwan will stage a protest outside the Ministry of Labor building on June 16 to lobby authorities for improved conditions, including a guaranteed day off every week.
The rally, marking International Domestic Workers Day, has been organized by the Domestic Caretaker’s Union, the second-largest employee’s group in Taiwan, which is led by Filipino and Indonesian migrant workers, the United Daily News reported.
They argue that a true day off should mean workers physically being able to leave the confines of their employer’s house for 24 hours and that the government should subsidize employers to hire replacements.
The union cited a report from the Ministry of Labor that stated more than 60% of migrant domestic caregivers or domestic workers in Taiwan had never taken “true” days off.
Under the Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers, which sets out their labor rights, weekly rest is defined as having at least 24 consecutive hours away from the job. The convention was adopted by the International Labor Organization on June 16, 2011.
Demand letter:
For: Ministry of Labor
Taipei Taiwan
full name: Marilyn Octavio
arc no: UD00256942
passport no: EC3100124
cp no: 0970333924
job category: Caretaker
Union: Taoyuan City Domestic Caretaker Union
Complaints:
We are a group of home~based worker from DOMESTIC CARETAKER UNION, TAOYUAN CITY.
1. We are exploited and forbidden to have a day off!
2. We are working 24/7, we are HUMAN and not a SLAVES!
3. Many worker are coming on june 10 sunday, coming from a far, all over taiwan.
4. your good office reason it’s impossible to have a meeting because it’s sunday, we know it’s not office hours but when is the possible time that we can have a meeting? weekdays? VERY IMPOSSIBLE! no day off on sunday, do u think employers and broker would let us go during weekdays? NOT POSSIBLE!
5. Employer and brokers not permit us to have day off during sunday but sunday is the only day that we can have enough rest and has a religous freedom to worship of what we are believing like taiwanese or other human beings..
5. We would not want to address this issue in the STREETS! we would like to address this issue in a very friendly communicating way between the government and workers! we can make through it to MEETING in a very orderly way.
Demands:
1. We would like to appeal in your good office to enforce the law about day off.
2. We demand for a meeting in your good office.
3. We appeal to your KIND HEART, please come over on sunday june 10, only 2 hours is enough for us.
4. Our sunday’s is very PRECIOUS to us same as you do LABOR OFFICER’S.
5. We need to talk, FACE TO FACE in a very peaceful way, we are WORKER’S we can asure that we are WELL MANNERED WORKER’S.
6. We can talk and discuss the solution in a very peaceful way.
7. Please we are PLEADING to your good office to give us time, we even lied to our employers where we will go on sunday just to be there to your GOOD OFFICE.
8. We are worker, we are union members, we are human, and human being has the right to demand enough rest and demand for meeting.
9. We hope for your IMMEDIATE RESPONSE!
WE ARE WORKER’S, WE ARE NOT SLAVE!
WE NEED DAY OFF BECAUSE WE ARE HUMAN!
THANK YOU.
Marilyn Octavio
Respectfully
Migrant worker
UNION DIRECTOR
Domestic Caretaker Union