January 10, 2024: Orientation Director Charles Niece feature in CommonWealth Magazine and comments on how the human rights supply chain is taking shape. Below is the English transcript:
The fight in Taiwan for better migrant worker conditions
2024-01-10
Quiet Church Revolution
One Sunday morning, more than 300 migrant workers from the Philippines attend mass at Tanzi Roman Catholic Church in Taichung. New parents have brought their baby to be baptized by priest Joyalito Tajonera.
Father Joy as he is known has been a staple there for the past 25 years, and his Catholic parish is more than just a meeting place for the faithful; it is a sanctuary for overseas workers in the area. Above the chapel is a shelter for migrants that cares for those who are unemployed or unwell.
Because of his dedication to care for migrant workers, Father Joy even spends time at the end of his masses talking about labor trends in Taiwan and abroad.
He has made impressive inroads in helping his parishioners, teaming up with New Jersey native Charles Niece over the past four years to help 2,500 Filipino workers in Taiwan recover more than NT$120 million in brokerage fees or their confiscated passports.
Father Joyalito Tajonera and Charles Niece have assisted migrant workers in recovering 120 million in agency fees. (Photo by Xie Peiying)
In 2019, he noticed that many Taiwanese tech companies had joined the U.S.-based Responsible Business Alliance (RBA). It promoted a “no-fees” recruitment policy, which said workers should not have to pay any fee to get a job.
Most importantly, the policy went from being “suggested” to “compulsory” for members. Major brands such as Apple, Amazon, HP, and Dell and more than 20 Taiwanese companies, including TSMC, Acer, AsusTek and Compal Electronics, are all RBA members.
Long Detour Turned into a Shortcut
That gave Father Joy and Niece the leverage they needed to pressure companies on the issue. Over the past four years, companies that have joined the RBA have all restituted the brokerage fees paid by their overseas workers.
Three years ago, Niece assisted a foreign worker, employed by a Japanese factory, in raising a complaint about their dorm room's cramped conditions, likening it to a 'pigeon cage. Noting that the company was an RBA member, he directly notified the RBA’s American headquarters of the problem rather than contacting the company.
Though it seemed like a roundabout approach, it was actually very effective, as a major American client took up the issue with the Taiwanese employer.
“One word from a customer is much more effective than a protest by 100 workers,” Niece said.
In the three years since, he has helped migrant workers communicate their problems to Amazon, Jabil and HP and received positive responses. Through that role, he has emerged as the key contact for communications between the RBA and Taiwan’s migrant worker community and has even been invited by the group to talk about Taiwan’s experiences.
“This is a grassroots movement started from the ground up, and more and more people believe they have power,” Niece said.
台灣被點名人權高風險！獨步全球收服務費，涉強迫勞動 歐美不忍了？
文 – 劉光瑩，廖雲章
天下雜誌790期
發布時間：2024-01-09
天主堂裡的寧靜革命
收容失業、生病移工，還幫討仲介費
台中潭子天主堂的前身是電影院，聖誕節前早早布置得很有過節氣氛，300多位菲律賓移工聚集參加彌撒，連二樓都坐滿了人。
這些離鄉背井來台的菲律賓移工們，在輕柔聖歌中，許多人雙手朝天，閉眼跟唱，甚至默默流下眼淚。在台灣認識結婚的新手父母，帶著嬰兒前來，接受瑪利諾會神父陳智仁（Joyalito Tajonera）洗禮祝福。人稱Father Joy的他，在這裡已經25個寒暑。
這座天主教會，不僅是神聖的場域，更是推動改善移工處境的聖殿。
禮拜堂樓上就是移工庇護中心，收容失業、罹病的移工。過去許多移工一懷孕就會被解雇，教會也成為許多移工母子的避風港。
近4年，不到30歲，來自紐澤西州的倪查理（Charles Niece）更與神父聯手，協助約2500名在台菲律賓移工拿回仲介費或被扣押的護照，總金額超過1.2億台幣。關鍵是，台灣科技大廠加入的美國責任商業聯盟（RBA）。
2019年，陳智仁注意到RBA發布「零付費」行為準則——勞工不應為了得到這份工作而支付任何費用。更重要的是，這個準則由過去只是「建議」，變成「強力要求」。蘋果、亞馬遜、惠普、戴爾等國際品牌廠，以及台積電、宏碁、華碩、仁寶等20多家台企，都是RBA會員。
2020年，倪查理有次協助在日系大廠工作的移工，反映宿舍像鴿子籠的問題。他發現這家日企是RBA會員，於是抱著姑且一試的心態，直接跟RBA美國總部反映，「一開始我也不確定會不會有用，」他說，沒想到透過美國，日廠母公司馬上介入，很快改善宿舍環境。
3年來，他替移工向亞馬遜、捷普、惠普反映，都立即得到正面回應，無一例外。從此，他成為RBA與台灣移工溝通的窗口，甚至受邀去分享台灣經驗。
「我看到移工們分享訊息、互相激勵，把聲音擴散出去，真的很開心，」倪查理說，「這是從底層開始的草根行動，愈來愈多人相信自己有力量。」
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