Workers at some chipmakers in Taiwan are facing tough restrictions in the face of Covid-19. Photo / Getty
Workers at some chipmakers in Taiwan are facing tough restrictions in the face of Covid-19. Photo / Getty
Foreign workers in Taiwan are being "imprisoned" in dormitories, banned from brushing their teeth and told they will be cremated without their families present if they die from Covid-19 as factories struggle to maintain production of key microchips, it is claimed.
In efforts to keep up with the global surge in demand for consumer electronics during the pandemic, manufacturers are alleged to be using fear to keep workers isolated, with some firms telling employees they will face financial penalties if they get Covid.
A Daily Telegraph investigation found labour rights squeezed in Taiwan's lucrative semiconductor industry. Taiwan is the world's largest supplier of the advanced chips vital to almost all consumer appliances.
A Covid outbreak that began in May triggered fears that factory disruptions could aggravate a chip crunch already plaguing global supply chains.
But the companies' pandemic response has highlighted questionable labour practices and accusations of discrimination against the migrant south-east Asian workers at the core of Taiwan's dominance of the industry.
Your family will not see your body
Through interviews with employees, rights groups, and a review of more than 20 internal and staff communications documents, the Telegraph found workers are not only being locked in their dormitories but threatened with medical costs or even financial penalties if they get infected. Some have been warned they could lose their job if they get sick in their free time.
Labour brokers - the gatekeepers to factory jobs - have also allegedly tried to scare workers into submission. "If you die, your body will be cremated in Taiwan immediately, your family will not even be able to see your body, and your family's finances will be immediately disconnected," says one message.
Compeq Manufacturing, which specialises in printed circuit boards, is among a number of companies to restrict workers' movements.
According to an internal memo and an employee, workers are allowed out once a day up to 90 minutes. The memo says employees must "suspend going out with non-Compeq friends".
An example of a message from one of the silicon chip companies prohibiting employees from even going out to purchase basic necessities
"We don't understand why we have these kinds of rules. It's frustrating us," said the worker.
Compeq denied restricting freedom of movement and said the 90-minute rule was a recommendation and not attached to penalties. It said it followed government epidemic regulations.
A Filipina employee of ASE, the world's largest chip packaging and testing house, claimed workers there had also been ordered to return to their dorms within an hour of their shifts and monitored by swipe cards. She said employees were also banned from brushing their teeth in 12-hour shifts.
"It's like we are put in a jail. Every move or act is controlled by the company," she said.
ASE said its "employees have the freedom to move about, but we are encouraging them to follow the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) advisory to stay at home/dorms and avoid unnecessary trips and group gatherings".
It said it understood staff anxiety and had offered financial subsidies, adding that epidemic measures followed labour ministry and CDC guidelines and applied to all employees. The tooth brushing prohibition was factory-wide for hygiene reasons.
Companies are alleged to have placed measures preventing staff from leaving factories to stop the spread of Covid-19. Photo / Getty
The restrictions on factory workers do not apply across Taiwan, where the current soft lockdown allows freedom of movement, but appear to have been fuelled by alarm over outbreaks in four factories in the north west. Foreign workers come from the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand.
Lennon Wong, an activist at the Serve the People Association, said the pandemic measures highlighted systemic discrimination against foreign workers. "It's not really for epidemic prevention because it's not scientific. How can you prevent the virus if you only ban the migrants?" he said.
The ministry and CDC were contacted for comment. The CDC stressed migrants were not prohibited from going out and if employers restricted their movement through "improper means" they may be "criminally liable."
It said employers who required staff to sign an agreement accepting liability for infection would still be held responsible and could lose their licence to hire foreign workers.
