Published in 2011

Policy criticism and recommendations

Tracing back the history of the union in Taiwan, we can easily find a heartbroken story related to the unfair labour practices. Before the establishment of new "Three Labour Laws" on 1 May 2011, the labour rights were not protected by laws completely. The employers could suppress the power of union easily. They tried every method to stop the development of union including the intervention of the union operations, rejections of the union’s demand on the consultation or the differentiated treatment in accordance with the union cadres.

In short, the so-called “unfair labour practices” means the employers make an unfair treatment towards the union and its cadres because they operate, join and organise the union. However, the labour can fight with the employers when they had organised the union. Through the collective power, they can conduct the consultation about their working conditions and distributions of the economic benefits with their employers. Once the negotiation broke, the union can apply the right to dispute. As a result, the disregard of the right to organise, right to bargain and right to dispute no longer exist. In the past, the ineffective administrative approach could not provide the instantaneous protection to the labour when they suppressed by the employers due to joining the union operations. Meanwhile, the litigation process was time-consuming and the judicial officials were generally lack of training on the labour laws. It led the labour to the frustration during the endless litigation process. As seen, the unfair labour practices had harmed the development of union seriously.

On 1 May 2011, the new Three Labour Laws had been established. One of the advanced evolutions is the creation of the institution to prohibit the unfair labour practices. It is the key to implement the Three Labour Laws. This book included three main parts such as storytelling, analysis and the practical operations. Through the interviews on the cases of the unfair labour practices, it emphasised the situations of the union cadres especially the influence on their families and daily life other than works. These stories told nothing but blood, tears and sweats under the pressure of the employers and government. In the second part, it talked about the history of the adjudication mechanism on the unfair labour practices in Taiwan, as well as the case study. This part could strengthen the understanding of that important institution. In the last part, it acted as the references for the union to know about the judgments related to the unfair labour practices in the past. From these three key perspectives, we hope to give a clear picture of the institution.