Even as the protests by 2,300 Taiwan railway employees were subsiding on Monday, the Taiwan Railway Labor Union (TRLU) was considering a large-scale strike, local media reported yesterday.
The union workers were protesting moves by the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA,
Chang Wen-cheng (
Union officials were also reported as saying that they expect that TRA Director-General Huang Teh-chih's signing two days ago of a document putting this promise on paper is only a trick to cool things down and that sooner or later he will break the promise.
Hsu Ta-Wen (
The TRA's Reconstruction Bureau (
According to the reports, Minister of Transportation and Communication Lin Ling-san (
In other related news, residents in the Hualien area are reported to be upset that one of their Tzu-chiang class trains has been moved by the TRA to Kaohsiung, where it has been changed into a luxurious tourist train, the Kaohsiung Do-Do Train.
The Hualien City Government is reported to have submitted a complaint to the Ministry of Transportation and Communication, while the Hualien chapter of the TRLU is demanding that development of transportation in eastern Taiwan be given priority.
The TRA is reported as saying that since 20 north- and southbound Tzu-chiang class trains stop in Hualien every day, transferring one of these trains would not affect ordinary traffic.
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Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
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