During President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) visit to the Hsinchu Science Park on Nov. 2, some business leaders proposed that the government adopt a system of “flexible working hours.” They said the government should amend the current cap of 84 hours per every two weeks as stipulated by the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), and instead regulate work hours over the entire year so that employers would have the flexibility to reschedule employees’ hours to correspond to business demands. What a pitiful suggestion.
It is often said that the evolution of the high-tech industry comes from human nature. However, its productivity comes from exploiting the human dignity of workers.
Companies that prefer a flextime system merely treat their workers as part of their factories: machines without feelings, to be plugged in when needed. During peak season, these companies require workers to work day and night, making the company their first priority and depriving them of time with their families.
During the slow season — or when profits fall short of expectations — corporations only want to cut labor costs to save money, making workers the direct victims. Having first introduced the tactic of making workers take unpaid leave, firms now want to go a step further by expanding the regulated unit of time from two weeks to an entire year, using a “work-hour account” system that would allow them to control workers’ hours as they see fit.
The government must not idly stand by as such unfavorable working conditions are thrust upon employees in combination with unpaid leave.
A government official responded by saying that “unpaid leave” means that a worker is still “employed.”
However, how can a worker be considered “employed” if he or she receives no salary and cannot fulfill their family responsibilities? Corporations have money, facilities and factories, as well as profits, but they pass the risks of doing business on to employees when they are faced with a problem. Since the government provides these companies with preferential tax treatment, it should not allow them to abuse workers.
Do the executioners in the government and these companies know about the tragedies of the workers who are now lying on the chopping block?
In recent years, the government has allowed companies to abuse the law. With declining working conditions, many Taiwanese have already become temporary workers with fixed-term contracts or even been forced to take unpaid leave. And now they face a possible “work-hour account” system.
Since having a job no longer seems to alleviate poverty, why would a working couple dare to have any children? Where would they get the nerve to apply for a 20-year loan to buy a house? What dignity and hope do they have?
Huang Hsin-hui is a secretary of the New Taipei City Builder Trade Union.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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