Beginning from Jan. 1 next year, the legally ordained maximum working hours will be reduced from 84 hours per two weeks to 40 hours per week. Taipei City Public Transportation Office chief secretary Shang Chin-tang says that bus drivers will be given four more days off every month. If bus schedules are to remain the same, bus companies will have to offer more overtime pay, with bus drivers receiving two to four hours of overtime pay per day.
Starting salaries for bus drivers range from NT$40,000 to NT$50,000 per month, and drivers who work more can earn at least NT$70,000. However, many drivers believe that they are selling their time for high wages. They have to work 10 to 12 hours per day and only get four days off each month. Traffic in both Taipei and New Taipei City is a mess. Driving a bus is like walking a tightrope and can be extremely exhausting, so not many people want to join the fleet.
Shang says that buses in Greater Taipei are currently short-staffed by nearly 1,200 people. Except for smaller bus companies such as Sindian Bus, Tamsui Bus and Southeast Bus, the other bus companies are short-handed by 60 to 250 people.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
照片:自由時報王藝菘
Capital Bus general manager Lee Chien-wen says the operators are “very willing” to give drivers two days off per week, but according to regulations issued by Taipei City Government’s Department of Transportation, they must meet the target of the required frequency for each bus route. In addition, they have to pass labor inspections administered by the Department of Labor. Capital Bus has allocated a budget for drivers who work on holidays next year, with the annual cost expected to be about NT$20 million.
Li says bluntly that bus transportation has transformed into a service industry, which entails complicated demands and more complaints from passengers. The government should think about how to increase drivers’ social status and work conditions. Shang says that bus fares will go up next year. The bus union and bus association have reached a consensus that for every fare increase of NT$1, drivers’ monthly salaries will go up by NT$2,000. Hopefully that will reduce the bus driver turnover rate.
(Liberty Times, translated by Ethan Zhan)
明年元旦起,法定工時由雙週八十四小時,縮短為單週四十小時。台北市公共運輸處主任秘書尚錦堂說,駕駛每月將增加四天例休假;若照原班表出車,業者就要支付更多加班費,駕駛每天可多拿四小時加班費。
公車駕駛起薪每月四、五萬元,出車量較大的更上看七萬,但許多駕駛認為這是「以時間換取高薪」;每天工時高達十至十二小時,月休才四天,雙北市交通又亂,公車上路宛如「走鋼索」,相當費神,入行意願低。
尚錦堂說,大台北公車駕駛目前缺額近一千兩百人,除了規模較小的新店、淡水和東南客運,其餘業者缺額六十人至兩百五十人。
首都客運總經理李建文說,業者「很願意」讓駕駛週休二日,但受限於交通局規定,每條路線需跑足班次,還得顧及勞動局的勞動檢查;首都客運已編列預算,給予明年例假日出車的駕駛例假津貼,一年約支出兩千萬元。
李建文坦言,公車轉型為服務業,要求繁瑣、乘客投訴多,政府應思考提升駕駛的社會地位及勞動條件。尚錦堂說,明年公車運價調漲,工、公會已達成共識,票價上漲一元,駕駛可加薪兩千元,盼能降低駕駛流動率。
(自由時報記者郭逸)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
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