Firefighters accompanied by rights activists yesterday demonstrated outside the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters, protesting against the Greater Kaohsiung Government’s decision to dismiss firefighter Hsu Kuo-yao (徐國堯) and accusing the city government of doing so in retaliation for Hsu’s activism for firefighters’ rights.
“Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) says she supports protecting firefighters’ rights, but she signed the dismissal order that removes me from my job for my activism for improving firefighters’ rights,” Hsu said. “We firefighters always risk our lives to save others, but before I get killed by a fire, the city government is killing me.”
Having worked as a firefighter in Greater Kaohsiung for 17 years, Hsu said that after organizing a rally for firefighters’ rights two years ago, he was unexpectedly moved from a fire station in the center of the city to Shanlin District (杉林), which is in a remote mountain area of the municipality.
Photo: CNA
Hsu continued to campaign for better working conditions and equipment for firefighters, and received 42 demerits in three months, resulting in his eventual dismissal, not long after he helped to organize another demonstration in Taipei on Sept. 1.
“None of the 42 demerits concerned my work. None of them was because I don’t know how to do CPR or because I failed in a rescue mission,” Hsu said. “I am an employee of the state. The officials are merely managers, they have no right to treat a state employee like this.”
Hsu showed a list of his 42 demerits, some of which were for ordinary reasons, such as one in June for not having completed the procedure for taking sick leave, while others were for serving as an administrator in the National Association for Firefighters’ Rights, for harming the Fire Bureau’s image by speaking to the media, for taking a side job and for reporting to the Agency Against Corruption about his supervisor.
“I took the sick leave with a doctor’s note, and it was approved by my supervisor, not to mention that it was something that happened last year,” Hsu said. “Participating in a non-governmental organization is my right, and so is speaking to the media, since we don’t have a union to speak for us.”
Hsu added he did not take a “side job,” but wrote legal papers for his colleagues free of charge and in his spare time.
“And I don’t know since when is it not allowed for me to report a suspected corruption case,” he said.
“Chen was a human rights activist, and the DPP always claims to stand behind the values of human rights. They should all explain why I have been fired,” Hsu said.
Taoyuan County firefighter Lee Tsung-wu (李宗吾) took part in the demonstration to show his support.
“There’s nothing wrong with firefighters voicing their demands for improvements in their rights and equipment. It’s for their safety on the job, and also for the safety of the public,” he said.
Human rights attorney Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) urged the DPP to intervene.
“The DPP rose with the support of the people, and therefore it should stand with the people, and the values of human rights and democracy when something like this happens in a city where the mayor is a DPP member,” Chiu said. “Otherwise, how is Chen different from Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻), and how is the DPP different from the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT]?”
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