More than 600 Thai workers brought in by the Taiwanese authorities to help build Kaohsiung's rapid transit system went on strike in protest against increased medical insurance costs as well as what they claimed was  poor food served by Kaohsiung Airport Catering Service.

Around 632 strikers were expected back on the job yesterday after mediation by senior officials of the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) and the Kaohsiung government, the CNA said.

KRTC deputy general manager Chu Fu-chiang answered the strikers' complaints, including anger over food quality, increased medical insurance costs and an injured worker who was browbeaten into reporting for work, according to the news agency.

To the complaint that 14 Thai workers are being sued by Huapan Administration Consultant, the workers' management company, Chu said KRTC's contract with Huapan was rescinded last September and that the Kaohsiung authorities and the Thailand Trade and Economic Office would help them fight the legal battle.

Tseng Ching-lung, an official in charge of foreign workers, said he had been inspecting dormitories almost every day since September and had seen great improvements in both food quality and living conditions, the CNA said.