《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》Ministry, former Hualon workers finally strike deal

By Lii Wen / Staff reporter

After years of protests, laid-off Hualon Corp workers reached a consensus with the Ministry of Labor yesterday on a two-stage compensation scheme for their unpaid pensions.

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The workers retired from the textiles firm about a decade ago and are claiming an average of NT$1 million （US$32 300） each in unpaid pensions after their employer failed to make deposits to a retirement account as required by law.

A general consensus was reached between Minister of Labor Chen Hsiung-wen （陳雄文） and nine representatives of the Hualon Self-Help Organization yesterday at a meeting in Taipei.

The plan’s first stage will pay 80 percent of the worker’s pensions with donations procured from banks and other creditors of the bankrupt firm, which have agreed to donate a fifth of the funds, or NT$426 million, they received from court-ordered auctions of the company’s assets in August, Chen said.

The remaining NT$30 million of donations will be distributed to former workers in need, as well as covering the administrative expenses of the organization, Chen added.

The plan capped the pensions of former managers and executives at NT$3 million, allowing most workers to receive 80 percent instead of only 50 percent of their pensions, said Hsu Jen-yuan （徐任遠）, a secretary at the organization.

An upcoming auction of the company’s final piece of real estate in Miaoli County’s Toufen Township （頭份） will pay for the remaining 20 percent of the pensions, either from donations from banks and other creditors, or directly to the workers if a proposed amendment to the Labor Standards Act （勞動基準法） has passed by that time.

Hsu said the plan was “acceptable,” although he personally hoped for full compensation immediately.

“The money from the auction in Toufen might take years to reach the workers, so we are not really expecting anything to come from it,” he said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES