onthly salaries soon because prosecutors may unfreeze eight bank accounts of the wo firms today at the earliest, Vice Economics Minister Shih Yen-hsiang said yesterday. Shih made the remarks after winding up a meeting with officials of the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA), lawmakers, experts and representatives of labor unions of the financially-troubled Rebar Group.
It was decided at the meeting that the Commerce Department under the economics ministry will help various affiliates under the Rebar Group to appeal to the Taipei Prosecutor's Office for unfreezing relevant accounts of the firms, according to Shih.
Prosecutors ruled to freeze eight accounts, with deposits of around NT$200 million, of the two above-mentioned firms on Jan. 9, several days after they applied for restructuring their debts.
Shih continued that his ministry will help labor union representatives report to prosecutors a set of rules concerning how to effectively manage the accounts after they are unfrozen, in a bid to help the firms maintain normal operations and allow employees to receive their regular monthly pay.
Once the measures are approved by prosecutors, the bank accounts will be unfrozen immediately, Shih said.
At the meeting, it was also decided that the economics ministry will help various affiliates of the Rebar Group establish provisional management teams to replace the original directors and supervisors of the firms, so as to secure their normal operations.
In addition, the economics ministry, and CLA and the Executive Yuan will set up an exclusive window for accepting petitions from employees of the Rebar Group, so as to better safeguard the interests of the employees.
The meeting was held after representatives of Rebar's labor unions petitioned yesterday morning to the Cabinet to unfreeze all the relevant bank accounts of various affiliates under the Rebar Group. Joining the petition were representatives from Rebar Restaurant, Idee Department Store, Rebar Cement, Chia Hsin Food & Synthetic Fiber, among others.
In response, Premier Sun Tseng-chang instructed relevant units under the Cabinet to work out measures to help employees of the Rebar Group receive their normal monthly pay and help affiliated firms sustain normal operations.
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