The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is deeply concerned at reports that the China Times Group plans to sack between 500 and 600 employees after a unilateral notice of dismissal was received by the China Times Workers’ Union on June 18.

According to the Association of Taiwan Journalists (ATJ), an IFJ affiliate, CTG President Lin Sheng-fen has refused to answer questions about the mass retrenchment but cited a decline in circulation and insufficient advertising revenue as reasons for proposed structural changes in the company.

The Chinese-language China Times, published in Taiwan for more than six decades, has a reported circulation of one million readers.

CTG management said it would release a redundancy plan, which affects only staff at the China Times at this stage, and details about severance pay on July 7, the ATJ reports.

“CTG must provide prompt information about its plans to deny hundreds of employees of their livelihoods,” IFJ Asia-Pacific said.

“CTG staff legitimately fear for their security. They have a right to know, as soon as possible, exactly what CTG is proposing in terms of the numbers to be retrenched and the provision of full and fair entitlements.”

Additional proposals to end local editions of the broadsheet newspaper, close its printing presses in central and southern Taiwan, and reduce the paper’s size by 12 pages have further alarmed the ATJ.

The IFJ joins the ATJ in demanding that CTG promptly make a full disclosure on the group’s fiscal situation in the past few years, covering the China Times, the China Television Company (CTV) and CTI Television.

Without a transparent public inspection, CTG cannot fairly cite “fiscal difficulties” as justification for mass retrenchment, said the ATJ.

“CTG must be required to give a full public accounting of its financial situation, and its senior leadership should be held responsible,” IFJ Asia-Pacific added.

The IFJ joins the ATJ in requesting an immediate and thorough investigation into the actions of CTG by the Council of Labor Affairs of the Executive Yuan, Taiwan’s Cabinet and the Taipei City Labor Affairs Bureau.

For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +612 9333 0919

The IFJ represents over 600,000 in 122 countries worldwide