The DPP's effort to have the legislature reverse its decision on workweek policy almost foundered yesterday after workers' representatives turned down the DPP's offer to negotiate.
"There is now only a 59-percent chance for the amendment to pass tomorrow," said a depressed Hsu Tain-tsair (
Just a day before, Hsu said he was optimistic that opposition lawmakers would support the Executive Yuan's bill to introduce a 44-hour workweek on Jan. 1, reversing a June 16 decision by the legislature to opt for a 84-hour-per-fortnight measure.
Opposition lawmakers have insisted that the DPP reach an agreement with workers on the 44-hour workweek as a condition for them to endorse the revised policy. Hsu had expected that such an agreement could be reached yesterday.
The DPP caucus had arranged a meeting with workers' representatives yesterday afternoon, but none of the representatives showed up.
"We have been staying in contact with labor unions, but the meeting couldn't be realized because there were different opinions from labor rights activists," Hsu said.
Ever since the Executive Yuan made clear its intention on Nov. 22 to reduce the workweek to 44 hours, 18 workers' groups have united together and formed an alliance to safeguard the 84-hour-per-fortnight measure.
The groups include the Chinese Federation of Labor (
Members of the alliance have staged numerous demonstrations protesting against the Executive Yuan's proposed amendment and have exerted intense pressure on lawmakers to stick to their original decision.
Yesterday morning, Hsu said that the Cabinet-level Council of Labor Affairs was ready to offer workers measures to improve their welfare in exchange for their concession on the workweek issue in the meeting scheduled for later in the day. According to Hsu, a consensus had been reached with the workers and a written agreement was likely to be signed at the meeting.
Those invited to the meeting were representatives from workers' unions, and the meeting was supposed to be kept secret.
"After the plan for the meeting was exposed to the public, some people came out to block it," Hsu said.
Leaders of the alliance, meanwhile, accused the DPP of destroying the basis of mutual trust for negotiations by spreading false information suggesting that the alliance had accepted the 44-hour workweek plan.
Lin Huei-kwung (
"Even before we met, the DPP had spread news saying we were ready to sign. This is a move that disgraces us," Lin said.
Hwang Ching-hsien (黃清賢), president of the Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions, said the alliance has closed the door to negotiating with the DPP because workers have lost faith in the ruling party.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he