The workers' union of Nan Shan Life, the Taiwanese unit of the American International Group (AIG) which is facing auction, demanded Wednesday that the company guarantee job security for its nearly 40,000 employees in Taiwan. Nan Shan Life is open to bidding until Aug. 28, when AIG will close the bid and announce the new owner of the life insurance company, which has an extensive network of 35,000 agents serving 4 million policy holders in Taiwan. The Nan Shan workers' union adopted a series of resolutions in a meeting Wednesday, including one to seek assistance from the Council of Labor Affairs and the Financial Supervisory Commission to ensure the job security of Nan Shan employees and to secure their pension fund. A union source said that the pension fund, amounting to NT$14 billion (US$437 million), should not be counted as part of the company's assets. The union, which is planning to hold a public hearing to discuss employees' rights and welfare, said it is awaiting responses to its requests from the company and relevant government agencies, and it will not rule out the possibility of taking to the streets if it does not receive favorable responses. Since AIG's financial crisis was exposed last October, reports regarding the company's plan to auction its overseas businesses have worried Nan Shan's employees as well as policy holders. The company revealed the auction plan in July and several international private equity funds are reportedly teaming up with financial holding companies in Taiwan to make the bid. As of May 2009, Nan Shan's total assets amounted to NT$1.5 trillion, and the policies in force totaled 7.94 million, according to company statistics. 