More than 100 people from the Hualon Self-Help Organization yesterday staged a surprise demonstration outside the Presidential Office and clashed with police as they demanded a meeting with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
As Ma declined to see them, the demonstrators were evicted by the police, with two activists arrested.
“We spent our youth at Hualon. Give back our hard-earned money,” the demonstrators shouted as they blocked the entrance to the Presidential Office complex yesterday, holding black umbrellas bearing the number “28” painted in yellow.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Amid preparations for Double Ten National Day celebrations at and near the Presidential Office, the demonstrators appeared and marched toward the complex.
Although officers tried to stop them about two blocks away, the protesters, who outnumbered the guards, forced their way through.
Three demonstrators — the group’s vice president, Lee Jui-yun (李瑞雲), and two student activists, Ku Chen-hui (古振輝) and Huang Yung-chiao (黃永喬) — were arrested and temporarily detained.
Photo: CNA
The demonstrators blocked an entrance to the Presidential Office, where they were surrounded by several rows of secret service agents and police officers. They said they would stage a sit-in until Ma agreed to see them.
“It has been three years since we started our campaign. Government officials have repeatedly promised to help us solve the problem, but I don’t know how long we still have to wait for a solution,” group president Lee Tsuei-ming (李翠明) told the crowd. “We are not asking for anything extra. We are only asking for what we are entitled to.”
About 300 to 400 former Hualon Group employees are owed retirement payouts of about NT$1 million (US$33,000) each, since their employer failed to make monthly deposits to their retirement account as required by law, leaving them with nothing when the company declared bankruptcy.
In August, the final piece of real estate belonging to Hualon Group, a factory in Dayuan Township (大園), Taoyuan County, was sold through a court auction for NT$2.4 billion. However, the workers only received a little more than NT$2,000, as most of the money went to pay banks and other creditors.
The demonstrators called for a revision of Article 28 of the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), to give employees priority in the distribution of money when a company declares bankruptcy, hence the number “28” on the umbrellas.
A 60-year-old woman surnamed Yang (楊) said that she is owed NT$1.1 million in retirement pay.
“My husband passed away 20 years ago and our family is suffering economically, especially now that I’m old and ill,” she said. “I would not be out on the street protesting if we did not really need the money to survive.”
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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
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