About 2,000 workers and labor rights advocates staged a rally in Taipei yesterday afternoon to urge the three presidential candidates to heed labor rights issues.
The protesters appealed to the candidates to raise the labor pension fund’s benchmark rate and to close the gap in wages between contract workers and formal employees.
Formosa Petrochemical Mailiao Plant Workers’ Union director Lin Hung-chun (林鴻鈞), who traveled from Yunlin County to take part in the protest, said that there is a huge gap between the salaries received by formal employees and contract employees at the plant.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Contract workers make up a substantial proportion of the plant’s staff and sometimes have to work 12 hours per day, but they are only paid one-third of the wages of formal employees, he said.
As the group passed in front of the Legislative Yuan, the protesters switched on more than 100 alarms they had brought with them and hurled them over the building’s walls, saying that it was a “wake-up call” to the legislators that if they continue to pass legislation that is unfavorable to workers, more protests would follow.
National Alliance for Workers of Closed Factories member Wu Chia-hung (吳嘉浤) criticized the Ministry of Labor’s cancelation of some national holidays, which he said was the result of an alliance of seven industrial and commercial groups putting pressure on the Executive Yuan last month.
“Workers protested the bill for six months to no avail, but the ministry canceled the holidays just one week after being pressed by industrial and commercial groups. The ministry obviously has double standards,” he said.
Protesters staged a performance by covering workers lying in a blocked-off section of a road with a large ballot bearing portraits of the three presidential candidates as a protest against the candidates’ reluctance to make commitments to safeguard workers’ interests.
“We thought voting could change our fates, but we were wrong. Voting is the government’s way of pinning us down,” a protester said.
The protesters later tore up the ballot.
According to what was written on the ballot, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) has “no chance of winning” and therefore put forward “perfunctory” labor rights policies; Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) response to labor rights groups appeals are a just a “touchstone” of her supposed presidency; while People First Party presidential candidate James Soong’s (宋楚瑜) labor rights platform is “as worthless as dirt.”
Taoyuan Confederation of Trade Unions secretary-general Lin Chia-wei (林佳瑋) said long working hours and low wages are prevalent in the municipality and called on the presidential candidates to raise the labor pension fund’s benchmark rates to provide better care for retired workers.
The protesters later tossed about 150 smoke grenades toward the presidential office from behind barbed wire barricades, to symbolize that they face a “cloudy future.”
Police officers stationed on-site rushed to remove the grenades and said the protesters’ actions were illegal.
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
NOT AN OPENING: Trump’s violation of international law does not affect China’s consideration in attacking Taiwan; Beijing lacks capability, not precedent, an official said Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons. The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said. That reassured Taiwan, the person said. Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
Snow this morning fell on Alishan for the first time in seven years, as a strong continental cold air mass sent temperatures plunging across Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The Alishan weather station, located at an elevation of about 2,200m in central Taiwan, recorded snowfall from 8:55am to 9:15am, when the temperature dropped to about 1°C, the CWA said. With increased moisture and low temperatures in the high-altitude Alishan area, the conditions were favorable for snow, CWA forecaster Tsai Yi-chi (蔡伊其) said. The last time snow fell at the Alishan weather station was on Jan. 10, 2018, while graupel fell there
RSS