TAIPEI – Taiwan has devised special measures to protect the rights of some 69,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and other members of the island’s migrant work force, according to Taiwanese labor officials.

The measures make Taiwan one of the countries in the world where the rights of migrant workers are best protected, according to Lin San-gwei, director-general of Taiwan’s Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training, which is under the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA).

In a meeting with a delegation of journalists from the Asia Pacific region, Lin said at least four new measures have been put in place specifically to ensure a smooth and problem-free working relationship between the migrant workers and their employers.

First, when a first-time migrant worker arrives in Taiwan, he is greeted at the airport by personnel from the labor ministry even before he could meet his employer, Lin said. Right at the airport, the worker gets a briefing on his rights under Taiwan laws.

“We even send personnel who can speak to the migrant workers in their own native language so that they would be able to fully understand us. We tell them not only about their rights but also on where they can find help in case they feel their rights are being violated,” Lin said.

Second, Taiwan officials have devised a four-digit toll-free number – 1955 – which migrant workers can call 24 hours a day, seven days a week to report any work-related complaint. “Assistance is given immediately upon receipt of the worker’s complaint,” Lin said.

Third, Taiwan’s Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training has been empowered to mediate in disputes between workers and their employers.

“We try to bridge the gap between them,” Lin said.

He said sometimes, the misunderstanding is rooted in cultural differences.

“We received a recent complaint from a Filipino worker who said that his employer only gives him congee meals for breakfast. He said he can’t understand why his employer treats him this way since in the Philippines congee is only given to patients in hospitals. We told the worker that congee is the usual Chinese breakfast meal. At the same time, we told the employer to provide his worker with the meal he likes,” Lin said.

Fourth, the bureau has designated about 240 inspectors to regularly check on the situation of migrant workers in their work sites.

These new measures complement other programs geared towards promoting the welfare of migrant workers in Taiwan.

For instance, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the government of Taiwan and the Philippines was signed last year, enabling employers in Taiwan to directly hire overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) under the Special Hiring Program for Taiwan (SHPT).

The MOU was signed by officials of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) and the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) during the Philippines-Taiwan Third Joint Labor Conference.

The program is advantageous to OFWs since they do not have to engage the services of brokers and recruitment agencies anymore to get jobs in Taiwan. This saves each worker as much as R144,991 (New Taiwan $100,000), officials said.

The OFWs covered by the program include factory workers, construction workers, household workers, caregivers, caretakers and institutional nursing workers, and fishermen.

Lin said some Taiwanese workers have been complaining that the Taiwan government treats migrant workers better than them. He said this is because the labor laws in Taiwan apply to both local and migrant workers, including the minimum wage which is pegged at US$580 (18,618 Taiwan dollars or R27,260) a month – one of the highest in the world.

“Every time we receive a complaint from the locals about this, we simply remind them of the famous quote from the great Chinese sage Confucius who said, ‘How happy it is to welcome friends from afar,’” Lin said.

He said OFWs are the third biggest migrant community in Taiwan. The latest official data showed that out of the 345,755 migrant workers in Taiwan, 20 percent of them, or 69,416, are Filipinos. Indonesia has the biggest labor force in the island with 136,948 workers (39.6 percent), followed by Vietnam with 77,712 (22.48 percent).

Aside from the relatively high wages, manufacturing workers in Taiwan may earn $200 to $400 a month in overtime, officials said.

Majority of the OFWs are in the manufacturing companies. Some work as technicians, musicians, domestic helpers, caregivers and fish workers among others.