TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Labor said on Saturday that it would investigate accusations that migrant workers were mobilized to attend a KMT protest in Taipei.
The KMT held a rally on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office to oppose the DPP-led recall campaigns targeting 34 KMT legislators, per CNA. However, a YouTube video appeared to show several Vietnamese migrant workers wearing caps bearing the name of KMT Legislator Cheng Cheng-chien (鄭正鈐) at the rally.
In the video, a woman asked one of the participants in Mandarin why he was attending, but he did not understand the question. After another participant translated her question into Vietnamese, the man said in Mandarin, “An older man brought me here.”
Caroline Lin (林志潔), a professor of technology law at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University and the former DPP legislative candidate for Hsinchu, shared the video on her Facebook page. Lin said it is illegal for migrant workers to work side jobs without permission, and making migrant workers work extra hours on holidays without pay is also against the law.
The KMT’s Hsinchu chapter said it did not mobilize anyone and did not pay any migrant workers to attend. It said that all participants attended voluntarily, and that many supporters had to arrange their own transportation to Ketagalan Boulevard due to a shortage of tour buses.
Cheng said that the participants in the video were foreign spouses and second-generation migrants who attended voluntarily and were later handed the caps due to the rain. In a second post, Lin questioned Cheng's claims and included two photos showing the workers gathered in front of a lottery shop in Hsinchu already wearing the hats at noon before boarding a bus to Taipei.
The MOL said Saturday night it would work with the Ministry of the Interior’s National Immigration Agency to investigate any violations. It said that under the Employment Service Act, employers are prohibited from “Assigning the employed foreign worker to work outside the scope of the work permitted.”
The ministry said if the investigation confirms that an employer has committed such a violation, the employer will be fined between NT$30,000 (US$922) and NT$150,000 under Article 68 of the Employment Services Act. In addition, the employer’s hiring permit will be revoked, and the employer will be barred from applying for new permits for two years.
