Hope Workers Center

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Hope Workers Center

[edit] Mission Statement

In a lived response to the life of Jesus, the Hope Worker’s center strives to promote more just, safe and equitable working conditions for both local and migrant workers, and to have these elements of justice and equality incorporated into the Taiwan Labor Law. The Center ensures that the human rights and dignity of workers are protected and upheld. We offer a supportive and praying community for Catholic migrant workers and facilitate workers of other faiths or denominations to access their places of worship.

[edit] Background

The Hope Worker’s Center was founded by the Missionary Society of St. Columban in 1986 to educate local workers and to do advocacy and lobbying. Soon, irregular migrant workers came to the Center for assistance as well. In 1922, Taiwan adopted a contract system for hiring migrant workers. Workers from the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia—and later Indonesia and Vietnam—could come to the island to work for only one two year term. The maximum length of contracts was extended to three years in 1997 and six years in 2002. Once the system was in place, the number of foreign workers increased steadily and a growing number of workers, predominantly Filipinos, came to the Center for assistance. Over time, the center began to specialize its services by hiring social workers from the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. The Center assists all migrant workers, respecting their race, culture and religion.