13 March 2009

Ex-TSMC Employees Protest Redundancies

It is always sad in these economic times when people are laid off from work but if what the Taiwan News is reporting, its sad. Sadly employee practices and treatment in Taiwan can be pretty harsh and most of the labor laws (at least from my perspective) favor the employer with very little support for the employee. Anyway, Taiwan Times reports some former TSMC employees were forced to sign letters saying they voluntarily resigned from the company when in fact they were made redundant. Because they "resigned" they lost any benefits accrued to them. Of course there are two sides to every story, but this would be very sad if true.

More than 20 former employees of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) who recently lost their jobs complained to the Hsinchu Science Park Administration yesterday that they had been unfairly treated by the company.

The workers applied to the park administration to mediate their dispute with the company after accusing TSMC at an earlier protest rally of firing them but forcing them to sign a document certifying that they left TSMC, the world's largest contract chip manufacturer, voluntarily. Some 50 policemen were called in to maintain order.

The workers made a number of demands, including that TSMC issue a certificate saying they did not resign voluntarily and that they be compensated based on retirement or preferential severance terms.

They also insisted that TSMC apologize for describing their redundancies as a company policy to "eliminate the less competent ... employees" and demanded they be given preference if TSMC increases its work force in the future.

Responding to claims, a member of TSMC management said the former TSMC employees could contact the company directly if they had any requests.

"The company will demonstrate the greatest sincerity in helping solve their problems," the TSMC official said.

Kao Shih-nan, secretary-general of the Hsinchu Science Park Administration, said his office accepted the former workers' applications and will help arbitrate the dispute between the two sides.

Hopefully TSMC is not putting in bad employment practices. They have a good reputation. I also hope the laid off employees will be able to find gainful employment soon somewhere else.



Taiwan News: Former Taiwan Semiconductor employees protest loss of jobs

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