Amid criticism that the widespread use of dispatch workers is a major cause of the nation’s wage stagnation, Minister of Labor Pan Shih-wei (潘世偉) on Thursday said that government agencies should set a good example and bar the use of such workers.
Dispatch workers are people hired by employment agencies and contracted out to organizations for varying lengths of time. They represent a source of cheap and flexible labor for employers, but critics contend that the system is being abused and the workers do not get standard benefits guaranteed by law.
Pan suggested that government agencies stop filling jobs through employment agencies and gradually fill them with contract workers, who are protected by the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法).
The ministry is promoting a law stipulating that the number of dispatch workers should not exceed 3 percent of a company or a government agency’s work force.
However, the large number of dispatch workers in government agencies has become an excuse for business groups to oppose the restriction.
The Executive Yuan allows its affiliated agencies to use a maximum of 15,514 dispatch workers. The number of such workers totaled 10,296 people in the final quarter of last year, making government agencies one of the largest users of dispatch workers.
The Council of Agriculture was the central government agency using the most dispatch workers — 2,754 people — according to official statistics.
Coming in second was the Ministry of Economic Affairs with 2,265 people, followed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare with 978.
The council said it mostly used dispatch workers to fill a shortage of field-survey staff, while the economics ministry said most of its dispatch workers were working at state-owned enterprises.
In response to Pan’s proposal, Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Deputy Minister Chang Nien-chung (張念中) said it would be difficult to bar the use of dispatch workers in government agencies because of the need to reduce personnel costs.
Huai Hsu (懷敘), a section chief at the government agency, said that instead of banning dispatch workers, more focus should be put on protecting the rights and benefits of such workers.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS