Debt Bondage Payouts Mark Progress But Fail to Make Migrant Workers Whole in Taiwan
Excessive recruitment fees are an omnipresent burden…
…two manufacturers have reimbursed over $2.5 million in total to migrant employees…
… Bosch and Hella have imported … from Chin Poon Industrial (CPI)… It also supplies General Motors and Opel …Magna, Visteon, and Continental. Continental has also imported… from … Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Corporation (SSFC), which also supplies Niagara Bottling, which makes … water bottles … for customers such as Walmart. Until the end of 2022, DSM and Dupont also sourced from SSFC.
All of these companies – except Opel, Magna, and Visteon – told The Diplomat that they commit to zero-fee recruitment…
… Following our report, several buyers addressed the problems…
… CPI had reimbursed its migrant employees a flat rate…
… None of our interviewees was reimbursed in full…
Hella…said that “recruitment fees for which there is written evidence… were reimbursed.”…
Bosch…claimed that “CPI complies with RBA standards.” … Opel…said that “Opel and Stellantis are in … alignment with the RBA standards”…
… GM told us that it “immediately engaged the suppliers…
… “SSFC’s zero-payment policy means that SSFC will pay for the fees that are charged legally…”, said SSFC.
… BlackRock, Vanguard and SSGA, and Norway’s State Pension Fund, …are top shareholders of one or both the suppliers…