Ei-iE

Members of EI’s affiliate the National Teachers’ Association of Taiwan are deeply concerned about a draft union law currently tabled in the Taiwanese Parliament.

EI has written a letter of protest to Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, expressing its concern that this law will actually continue to exclude teachers from the fundamental right to form and join trade unions. This means that the Government is actually restricting the rights of those it directly employs. The ILO Committee of Experts has repeatedly stressed that “teachers in public schools should be provided with a legal framework to exercise their right to form trade unions.” The revised law, if adopted, will prevent educators from being able to organise unions at the school level. It will also impose unreasonably high minimum union membership fee, thereby discouraging low-income teachers from joining unions or maintaining union membership. In addition, teachers would not be allowed to resort to strike action. Furthermore, the suggested mechanisms to settle labour disputes are not in compliance with international labour mechanisms and social dialogue procedures. EI is urging the Parliament to consider providing all teachers of Taiwan the right to form and join trade unions, as prescribed by international labour standards. EI and its affiliates worldwide will continue to monitor the trade union environment in Taiwan. In the meantime, EI will inform the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the UNESCO of the violation of the union rights of teachers in Taiwan.