We won't cause trouble!
"Actually, for us, the worst part is not necessarily the moment the factory closes. Long before that we had to go through a period of uncertainty, with rumors flying, and people feeling on edge and agitated and unable to sleep at night," says Chang You-tsai, an employee for 24 years at the Japanese Jaguar Industries, Ltd. in the Kaohsiung Export Processing Zone and the former production manager.
It was announced in March of this year that the factory would be closed, and it formally ceased operations at the end of May. This Japanese concern was one of the largest sewing machine manufacturers in the EPZ, and had over 500 workers at its peak. But over the last two years, the Japanese firms in the EPZ have either left or folded. Jaguar set up a factory in mainland China, and has been steadily moving its equipment over there, leaving everyone with a deep sense of insecurity.
"Even though that was the case, the company still promised those of us at the departmental director level that they would keep the Taiwan factory,"says Chang. Finally, when April rolled around and it was time to announce salary increases and to issue summer uniforms, the owners--after repeated questioning from the union and repeated assurances that there would be no trouble--admitted that the factory would close shortly.
A factory closing is a large affair, people lose their source of income without warning, and it is a terrible shock for the workers. In order to put off the labor-management negotiations and postpone the moment of mass agitation, many owners procrastinate until the last minute and only announce four or five days in advance, "Starting next week, you don't need to come to work."
"This kind of hemming and hawing is like manipulating us, and that's what makes people really angry," says Chen Chun-you, now 53, who two years ago was laid off when the Chia Lung clothing factory in Taipei County closed up.
This is especially true in the ready-made clothing industry, where people have traditionally been paid for piece work. In order to earn a bit more many, many of the women workers would neither eat nor drink--nor even go to the washroom--though they would still earn only NT$20-30,000 for a month of such dedication. Nevertheless. the owners, knowing well in advance that the factory would close, would start reducing their orders a year ahead of time, and bring in less material, so that the workers would while away their time with nothing to do. So you can see why people get so angry.
Saving money for the boss
Chien Hsi-kun, secretary-general of the Taiwan Labour Front, has on many occasions helped labor to protest factory closings and gain severance pay from management. As a third party observer, he notes that since severance payments are so high (according to the Labor Standards Law, an employee is entitled to one month's average pay for each year worked in the firm), the owners often hope that workers can be induced to "take a hike" on their own, so that owners will not have to pay a penny.
With this objective in mind, the factory ownership accepts fewer orders, begins to take a loss on manufacturing, stops paying annual bonuses, begins shifting workers to unpalatable jobs (for example, by closing down some of the especially unprofitable lines and shifting the workers to new jobs they will find hard to adjust to, so that they leave "voluntarily"), or transfers workers to other factories far away... these are all frequently seen "strategies." It has been known that in factories of hundreds of employees less than half can stand the grilling and hold out for their severance pay to the end.
But why are the factories closing? And why are the employees being laid off? On the surface the reason is that owners do not wish to continue operating at a loss. But for those employees who have given the best years of their lives to the company and have grown up with the company, that's hard to accept.
Li Chung-kuang, who worked in a textile factory for 15 years and made it to management level, says that long before his factory closed he could see the trends in the industry. He knew that it was getting more difficult for labor-intensive industry to survive in Taiwan. He was acutely aware that, in the midst of a labor shortage, "the plant was having great difficulty finding workers, especially skilled workers."
Looking to upgrade, the textile industry must choose automation as the only viable path. Li Chung-kuang himself went to study automation technology, hoping one day to be able to put his knowledge to use on the factory floor. But industrial upgrading is a long and difficult strategy to implement, and in the end the owners decided just to close the factory outright. Instead, the Shinkong Hospital went up on former factory land in a high-rent district of Shihlin.
Who are we working for?
If it's really the case that the investors are losing money and can't continue, we feel sorry for them. so we won't force them to continue, and won't demand severance pay," says Chen Chun-you. What makes workers unhappy is that many companies are not, in fact, losing money. It is just that, in terms of comparative economic advantage, they could hire ten workers in mainland China for the cost of one worker in Taiwan. Or, instead of spending all that time and effort running a factory for a small profit, they could just sell the land for a high-rise and make more money. Or perhaps, as the number of senior employees grows over time, they are looking to the future and thinking of the pension bills they will have to pay, and decide that it would be better to disband the factory....
"When I first went to work in the factory, it was a very small operation. They were always emphasizing how the workers and management would have to work shoulder to shoulder, and if the owner made money he would not forget to reward the workers. It all sounded so great." Many workers who have since been laid off accepted this bargain, and worked overtime without pay. Now that they are facing the closure of the factory, new animosities and old grudges well to the surface: "Today the boss is wealthy, and gets even wealthier in China and Southeast Asia. But we have become expendable burdens!"
The outside world is like...
Looking at things from management's point of view, it is completely natural that capital should seek the highest returns. Out of regard for other's feelings and trying to act reasonably, many owners also hope to keep damage to a minimum. For example, they will inform workers of openings in other companies in the corporation and transfer those who are willing to go; in this way they can keep their seniority, though they will get no severance pay.
However, because most workers have bought homes near the factory, it is hard for them to change locations overnight. Many employees judge the "sincerity" of their employer's offer on whether or not the latter will offer convenient transportation or accommodations. But if the owners are indeed sincere, this simply creates a conundrum for many workers: "Should I accept the transfer and keep my seniority, or should I just take the single severance payment and strike out on my own?"
"Strike out on my own!" This is an idea that gives many a worker anxiety attacks. "After a long time in one factory, you get comfortable with the work and have a lot of friends, and it becomes more like your home. Once it is time to leave, everyone is afraid they will not be able to adapt to the outside world," says Chen Hsueh-yen of the Chia Lung clothing factory.
Although they may panic, and may be unwilling to go out on their own, when the sense of injustice and disappointment passes, workers still have to face the fact that they have been let go. "There's lots of life left to go, and you have to keep living." Does this express the resiliency of the workers? Or their fatalism?
[Picture Caption]
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The owner moved the factory to Indonesia, closed the one in Taiwan, and didn't give severance payments as required by the Lab or Standards Law,sparking these women workers to take to the streets, directing their protests at Indonesia's representative office in Taiwan. (photo by Ho Cheng-lung)
