Teachers to march for union rights

Accompanied by more than 10 labor unions, the National Teachers Association (NTA) yesterday announced it would take to the streets on Teachers' Day, Sept. 28, in a bid to earn the right to form their own labor unions.

Following the Executive Yuan's passaging a tax on teachers' salaries, the NTA claims that teachers should be included under the Labor Union Law (工會法), which insures employees' rights of negotiating with their employers. The NTA believes such a move is necessary because the government didn't consult with the teachers before proposing the tax.

Most of Taiwan's teachers work in public schools, meaning they are indirectly employed by the government.

"We don't feel we are respected by the government. We are going to fight for our right to form unions and negotiate with the government," Chang Hui-shan (張輝山), chairman of the NTA, said.

"We can negotiate, and should be informed about any issues related to us," Chang added.

Based on the regulations, national defense, the civil services and the education sector have been banned from forming unions. The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) had tried to include the three under a new amendment to the Labor Union Law. The proposal failed to pass in the Executive Yuan because of opposition from the Ministry of Education (MOE).

The CLA yesterday emphasized that they support the teachers' right to form unions, but it has to respect the MOE's opinions.

The MOE claimed that teachers are public property and should not enjoy the right to strike.

In reaction to the NTA's request, the education ministry said yesterday that teachers enjoy more benefits than laborers under the government's special provisions for teachers, and teachers should think very carefully whether they want to give up such benefits.

"We respect the opinion of the teachers' associations, but they have to think about what they want very carefully," said Deputy Minister of Education Fan Sun-lu (范巽綠) at the press conference.

The Chinese Federation of Labor (CFL), which will join the teachers' demonstration on Sept. 28, argued that the special provisions for teachers are no different from other provisions that protect other industries in Taiwan, and "teachers should be entitled to negotiate with their employers by forming unions."

Fan also said that there are currently "teachers associations" which should be considered as a kind of union, while teachers argued that those associations are more about entertaining purposes and are incapable of negotiating.

Whether to allow teachers to form labor unions has been a controversial issue over the past decade. President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) submitted a proposal to allow national defense, civil services and the education sector to form unions when he was a legislator in 1990. He reiterated the idea when he was a candidate in the 2000 presidential election.

"Teachers forming labor unions to fight for their working rights has been a global trend, but the government is just too conservative on this issue," the CFL said.