Activists protest labor council's use of pension fund

Over 200 labor activists staged a protest against the Council of Labor Affairs yesterday over controversies surrounding the labor pension fund and new amendments to labor statutes.

Rallying outside the council's headquarters in Taipei, the protesters demanded an apology from the council's chairwoman, Chen Chu (陳菊), for what they said was her "mismanagement"of the labor pension fund, one of four funds which the government sometimes relies on to prop up the stock market.

The protesters, from 10 labor groups, cited statistics which indicate that the four funds have incurred paper losses of nearly NT$150 billion since last year. Losses for the labor pension fund are estimated to be more than NT$20 billion -- the first loss for the fund since it began investing in stocks in 1993, they claimed.

The groups insisted Chen admit responsibility for the losses and said the money, which is part of the national labor retirement fund, should have been managed by laborers themselves.

Disputes over the use of the fund began in March when Jeng Tsuen-chyi (鄭村棋), director of Taipei City's Bureau of Labor Affairs, said he and his Kaohsiung counterpart had been removed from the pension fund commission because they had refused to support a plan to allow more of the council's NT$200 billion pension fund to be invested in stocks.

Aside from the fund disputes, the protesters also spelled out their discontent with the labor council's draft amendments to the Labor Union Law (工會法), the Collective Agreement Law (團體協約法) and the Labor Dispute Law (勞資爭議處理法).

The council claims the amendments will grant more protections and freedoms to unions to negotiate with employers.

However, the labor groups accused the council of "lying" and said the amendments will place even more restrictions on laborer's rights.

The groups said they will stage another round of protest against the council on May 1, Labor Day.