Dozens of homeless people went to the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) yesterday to protest against the council’s temporary work program, saying it involved too many restrictions that would deprive homeless people of the chance to participate.
The protesters said they depended on temporary jobs for survival, while castigating the council’s recently launched program as something they “can only look at” because it has too many restrictions.
The protesters said restrictions such as the one requiring that applicants “must be insured under the national labor insurance program for at least six months within the past three years” and that they “must have signed up for job counseling at a local employment service center in the past month” are too limiting, creating only a mirage for the homeless.
PHOTO: CNA
“Even if by some miracle I were chosen for the program, it’s only temporary, and I would lose my job after 10 days,” a homeless person who identified himself as A-liang said.
In response to the complaints, the council said the nature of the jobs program was to help unemployed middle-aged and elderly workers get through the Lunar New Year because workers in this group usually have heavier financial responsibilities to their families.
The council regularly provides job counseling and job placement services for the homeless, who can receive help by registering at a local employment service center.
The temporary employment program is open to job seekers between the ages of 45 and 65 who have been unemployed for at least one year.
Under the program, the council will first try to find job seekers suitable long-term positions in private businesses or organizations. Those who cannot be matched up to a long-term position are then considered for the temporary job program.
The program will provide those seeking employment a 10-day position at a government agency or non-profit organization starting next Monday.
The temporary work will pay NT$100 per hour for up to eight hours a day, with a maximum of NT$8,000 available to each applicant. The CLA will cover the workers’ national labor insurance and health insurance premiums during this period.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai