Carrying his farm tools over his shoulder, Lin T'ien-fu tagged along after his father on the way back home.

"Ah-Fu, you're graduating from junior high school this summer. I've already spoken with Uncle Fan next door: when Ah-K'un goes back to Taipei next time, he'll take you there to find work."

"Uh-huh . . . "

"You and Ah-K'un see what you can make of yourselves. If you stay here in the country, you'll get nowhere. . . ."

Now the firm's quality control director, he was recalling what it was like 25 years ago when he first came to the electronics company.

"I was a real country bumpkin when I came to Taipei in 1962. I didn't understand anything, and I was afraid to ask. I just followed orders, like in the army. I didn't even know how much money I was making until I got paid at the end of the first month."

He worked so hard, some of his co-workers called him "a human ox." He was loyal to his employers; the only time he left the company was when he performed his military service.

"Actually, a lot of the people who joined the company at the same time I did were the same," Lin T'ien-fu said with a smile. "We looked on the boss as our father; we were grateful to him for giving us a chance to work."

Some time ago, he discovered that this kind of thinking was "passe." It was a whole new ball game out there.

It was 1976 when he first met with a refusal from an employee he had asked to work overtime. In 1978 he heard about a worker who had quit to join another company because there was "not enough air-conditioning in the factory." He began to notice how his co-workers would swarm for the punch-out clock as soon as the off-work bell rang. And then one time, a young co-worker asked him to sign a petition to protest against the company for cutting back on annual leave.

Lin was really at a loss. Looking at the young people he supervised, he couldn't help but sigh and ask himself: Just what can they be thinking of?

Lin T'ien-fu's experience is hardly unique. Over the past thirty years, since Taiwan began to industrialize, the island's work force has clearly fallen into two generations, different in their background and in their value concepts.

A research paper by Hsiao Hsin-huang, a member of Academia Sinica's Institute of Ethnology, points out that Taiwan's first-generation labor force, which appeared in the 1950's and 1960's, came largely from farming villages. Although they lived and worked in the city, they still identified to a considerable degree with their families in the country.

The second generation, which has appeared during the 1970's and 1980's, is more urbanized. They have weaker ties with their relatives in the country; with no road back, they have to look out for themselves and are more willing to fight for their rights.

Labor, a major factor in the ROC's economic miracle and which currently totals six million people (including both white-and blue-collar workers, according to internationally accepted definition) or more than one-third of Taiwan's population, is indeed changing.

Many factory owners have had similar experiences: Although extra pay is still attractive, it is no longer a panacea for all labor ills.

What today's work force wants can be seen from a study performed by the ROC Statistics Bureau in 1986. The study showed that "work breaks and vacation" and "work hours" took first and third places among reasons for labor disputes. Second place went to the problem of unpaid wages due to factory closings, closely followed by "pensions" and "dismissal without cause."

And a survey by the Taiwan provincial government's Department of Social Affairs showed that the major concerns of manufacturing industry workers were "lack of proper recreational activities," "lack of job security," "lack of specialized skills," "work hours too long," and "fear of contracting job-related diseases."

Yu Hsiu-yu, who has worked at General Instruments Corp. for 22 years and is now in charge of labor relations at the firm, says that twenty years ago workers' expectations were much lower, and that they never refused to work overtime: "After all, everybody wanted to make a little more money."

Labor costs in the ROC are now the fourth highest in Asia, following those of Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. With their increased economic resources and higher educational level, workers today place more value on leisure.

The main reason for the demand for pensions is societal change. According to Chang Hsiao-ch'un, a professor of sociology at National Taiwan University, industrialization has changed the family structure of traditional agricultural society so that "raising a son is no longer a guarantee that you'll be cared for in your old age."

All these changes in workers' thinking and needs, brought about by changing economic, educational, and social factors, were given legal foundation in the enactment of the Labor Standards Law of 1984, which established regulations regarding wages, work hours, leave, dismissal, injury compensation, retirement, pensions, and other labor issues.

The protection of labor rights afforded by the Labor Standards Law has already received international affirmation. One of the criteria used by the United States in evaluating whether a nation is engaging in "unfair trading practices" against it is the nation's labor policies. And one of the reasons why the Reagan administration did not include the ROC among the nations that it declared it was retaliating against for unfair trading practices early this year was its positive evaluation of the Labor Standards Law.

However, since enactment of the law, reports of labor disputes have made frequent appearances on the inside pages of the newspaper. "Although workers in the past felt that they had certain demands, they weren't very concrete. Now that they have been spelled out in the law, they know what their rights are and what they can fight for. In addition, the attitude of management at some firms has been to look for loopholes in the law to avoid being taken advantage of, so it was inevitable there would be litigation," a labor news reporter at the China Times explains.

Victory in these disputes has been divided about equally between management and labor, showing that labor-management relations in the nation are still evolving and developing. However, Professor Chang of Taiwan University believes that this is, in any event, a healthy sign.

"Labor is not only the foundation stone of our nation's economic development, but a driving force is social stability. It deserves our attention and concern," he says. "We need to listen closely to its voice."

As to whether that voice grows louder or softer, government policies and management behavior will likely be the key!

[Picture Caption]

I'm a worker, and I like my job.

Beneath the lonely silhouette, what's going on in the mind of this worker?

They have come from different places and different backgrounds; the only thing they have in common is that they have created Taiwan's "economic miracle."

Hard work, brains, and sweat--today's prosperity has been built up by their persistent efforts.

As the city has gradually encroached on the countryside, people's value concepts have been changing.

Now that it understands them better, labor has begun to stand up for its rights.

Punch in on time--and punch out on time, too: the attitude of labor toda y. (photo by Chung Yung-ho)

Recreational activities are one of labor's pressing needs. This is a meet for the employees of the Taiwan Plastics Group. (photo by Arthur Cheng )

I'm a worker, and I like my job.

They have come from different places and different backgrounds; the only thing they have in common is that they have created Taiwan's "economic miracle.".

They have come from different places and different backgrounds; the only thing they have in common is that they have created Taiwan's "economic miracle.".

They have come from different places and different backgrounds; the only thing they have in common is that they have created Taiwan's "economic miracle.".

Hard work, brains, and sweat--today's prosperity has been built up by their persistent efforts.

Hard work, brains, and sweat--today's prosperity has been built up by their persistent efforts.

Hard work, brains, and sweat--today's prosperity has been built up by their persistent efforts.

As the city has gradually encroached on the countryside, people's value concepts have been changing.

Now that it understands them better, labor has begun to stand up for its rights.

Punch in on time--and punch out on time, too: the attitude of labor toda y. （photo by Chung Yung-ho）

Recreational activities are one of labor's pressing needs. This is a meet for the employees of the Taiwan Plastics Group. （photo by Arthur Cheng ）