RCA came to Taiwan in 1969 to build a factory to produce electronic parts for televisions, employing more than 18,000 people at peak production. Most of those on the production line were women. (rephotographed from RCA's in-house magazine)

The 2001 film Erin Brockovich, for which Julia Roberts won an Oscar for best actress, was based on actual events that started in 1993: Brockovich, a single mother with only a basic formal education, became a clerk in a law firm in a small California town, and discovered that the local power company was polluting the water supply, creating a horrifically high incidence of cancer and other serious illnesses. Disregarding the objections of her boss, she stood firm and investigated the case on her own.

She faced numerous frustrations and dangers in the investigation, but she refused to give up, and she eventually persuaded the 600 or so residents to band together and sue the corporation. The power company admitted defeat in 1996, agreeing to pay the largest out-of-court settlement in American history--US$333 million. Thus justice was upheld.

They say that history repeats itself. Taiwan also has its real-life Erin Brockovich case. The US company RCA was dumping toxic waste at its Taoyuan factory, polluting the soil and underground water, leading to alarmingly frequent reports of cancer among workers.

In contrast to the film, the workers of the RCA plant are fortunate enough to have lawyers from the Legal Aid Foundation to file and argue a suit on their behalf. The sad part is that of workers with ten or more years at the plant, as of 2001 already 1375 had cancer, including breast cancer, cervical cancer, liver cancer, colorectal cancer, and nasopharyngeal cancer. Of these 216 had passed away, and the remainder who fought on did not know: Would they ever live to see justice done?

From the time that the RCA lawsuit was restarted with new attorneys early last year, Huang Chun-yao had to drag her sick body, and Chien Mei-ling had to give up her job, to rush from Taoyuan to Taipei time and again in order to discuss details of the pre-trial filings with their team of attorneys, to collect data from the Council of Labor Affairs, to petition the Executive Yuan, to contact witnesses and prepare them for court, to hold press conferences....

"I am in worse and worse shape as time goes by. Last year when an old colleague invited us out for KTV, at least I could still go and sing, but this year I feel completely exhausted. Although I go back to the hospital every six months for a check-up, and my condition is stable, I never expected that there would be so many side-effects to nasopharyngial cancer," says the 54-year-old Huang. She used to have thick, healthy hair, but now has lost at least a third of it. She can only consume liquid foods, and her throat goes dry after only a few sentences, so she has to carry water around with her wherever she goes.

Because the cancer has damaged her vocal cords, Huang sometimes cannot speak clearly. If her counterpart doesn't understand what she is trying to say, she often automatically repeats herself more loudly. Fortunately, her best friend Chien Mei-ling is always there in time of need to help her clarify what she wants to say.

Huang is the director and Chien is the president of the RCA Workers Mutual Aid Association. Huang left her job after falling ill in 1997. As for Chien, after RCA closed its factory in 1992, she and her husband opened a trading company ten years ago in Chungli, Taoyuan. Since the RCA case was restarted last year, the two of them have been moving non-stop.