Thousands of people yesterday marched from the headquarters of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to the Executive Yuan in Taipei, urging the Cabinet to withdraw its draft amendment to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法).
At noon, protesters gathered in front of the headquarters and started to march toward the Legislative Yuan at about 3pm.
One of the organizers, the Taiwan Railway Union, estimated a turnout of more than 10,000 people in the afternoon.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
Several scuffles broke out between protesters and police when police tried to narrow down the demonstration area at the intersection between the Zhongshan N Road and Zhongxiao E Road.
Instead of continuing their march along Zhongxiao W Road, the organizers urged protesters to stage a sit-in at the intersection and wait for the Cabinet to respond to their appeal, but they received no response and dismissed the demonstration at 6pm.
Despite the dismissal, some protesters were still occupying the intersection as of press time last night.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Prior to the dismissal, some protesters tried to break through a police blockade set up in front of the Executive Yuan complex.
One member of the Social Democratic Party, surnamed Lu (呂), was forcibly removed from the scene by police, with his left ear allegedly cut on the wired barricades.
Since the Cabinet announced the draft amendment on Nov. 9, many labor rights groups have been protesting against what they said is the most retrogressive amendment to the act, which was pushed to a second reading by DPP lawmakers on Dec. 4.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Anticipating the demonstration yesterday, Cabinet spokesperson Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) and Minister of Labor Lin Mei-chu (林美珠) tried to clarify what they called a “misunderstanding” about the draft amendment at a news conference on Thursday.
In the Cabinet’s draft, Article 34 proposes that the interval between two work shifts can be reduced from 11 hours to no less than eight hours if an employer obtains approval from its workers’ union.
Most people oppose the article because they do not understand its two premises: It only applies to those who have to work in shifts, and people are not allowed to work more than 12 consecutive hours, Hsu said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The work schedule of employees can be changed once a week at most, but the restriction becomes irrelevant when employers and employees reach an agreement, according to the draft.
Some lawmakers have tendered motions that propose businesses should obtain the ministry’s approval before they are allowed to shorten workers’ rest intervals, Lin said, adding that the ministry thinks the proposal is feasible and would include it in the final draft.
No one misunderstood the articles, at least the Taipei City Government did not, Taipei Department of Labor Commissioner Lai Hsiang-lin (賴香伶) said yesterday when asked to comment on Hsu’s explanation.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Many hospital management teams, due to staff shortages, are likely to change workers’ schedules almost every day, which is a fact that the Cabinet fails to understand, Lai said, adding that it should encourage businesses to hire more workers instead of easing regulations.
The ministry should set up a registration system and ask businesses adopting shifts to fully reveal their schedule information, she said.
If businesses are to lengthen employees’ working hours, they should obtain approval from the ministry, which could be helpful to prevent employers from abusing the loosened regulation, she added.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
Employers are likely to force workers to sign agreements that say that they agree with the lengthened work schedules, Taiwan Higher Education Union department director Lin Po-yi (林柏儀) said.
People who have to work in shifts, such as guards, nurses and drivers in the logistics industry, are relatively powerless in society, Lin Po-yi said, adding that the draft amendment would worsen their already poor working conditions.
The DPP has forsaken the public, who cannot but take to the streets to defend its values, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said.
Asked if the KMT has any strategies to boycott the draft amendment in the extraordinary legislative session next month, Chiang said that party members are discussing plans, but cannot reveal them at the moment.
During a visit to Tainan yesterday, Premier William Lai (賴清德) said he would ask the Ministry of Labor to collect the appeals of protesters, but no further response could be solicited from the Cabinet as of press time last night.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)