Members of the China Pacific Laundry Services Workers’ Union burst into applause late on Sunday night after they voted to go on strike by 58 to 17, following failed negotiations with the company to improve their wages and working conditions.
After the vote, the union announced that the strike was to take effect immediately and cordoned off the company premises to prevent access to laundry products.
Owned jointly by China Airlines Ltd (中華航空) — Taiwan’s largest carrier — and Swire Pacific (太古), the facilities are used to clean uniforms for flight attendants, as well as the blankets, seat covers and dining towels used on China Airlines flights.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The union sought a NT$10,000 (US$323.29) raise in monthly wages, an end to the use of short-term contractors without permission from the union and changes to charges for food and lodging taken from migrant workers.
Despite more than a decade in service, many senior employees at the firm receive a monthly wage of about NT$18,600, which is below minimum wage, the union said.
Wages at the company increased by less than NT$2,000 over the past 10 years, it added.
As of press time last night, the union’s occupation of the firm’s facilities continued, with lines of workers standing guard over the company grounds.
Tensions had escalated over the past month, with the union demanding raises after the company outsourced work to other laundry contractors, which led to a significant decrease in overtime pay.
Union secretary-general Lin Chuang-chou (林莊周) said that the company had no reason to keep wages so low because the firm recorded profits of more than NT$50 million last year.
He added that the company should stop taking advantage of its workforce, which includes many employees from disadvantaged groups, such as foreign spouses from Southeast Asia, Aborigines and elderly women.
“Over the past 10 years, the company almost never improved its working conditions. I think the point is that workers must fight for their own benefits,” union volunteer Chen Liang-fu (陳亮甫) said.
He added that direct action by employees could be more effective than recent legislative drives for the “four laws for pay raises” to legally require companies to share their profits.
China Airlines said its flights would not be affected by the strike, adding that the company would continue to seek dialogue with the strikers.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
One person was killed and another seven injured today when a tourist shuttle bus plunged 30m to 40m down a ravine in Nantou County, the Tourism Administration said. The bus is suspected to have suddenly accelerated out of control near the flower center of the Sun-Link-Sea Forest Recreation Area, a popular attraction during cherry blossom season. Of the eight onboard, a 66-year-old man was killed, four were seriously injured and three sustained minor injuries, including the driver. The Nantou County Police Department said it received a report of the incident at 12:15pm and dispatched seven teams to assist. All surviving passengers have been transferred
RSS