Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) train drivers yesterday said that they could stick with their plan to go on strike during the long Mid-Autumn Festival holiday weekend if their demand to reduce the train service is not accepted by the railway.
The TRA was supposed to announce the measures that it would use to transport homebound passengers during the festival holiday at noon yesterday after a trilateral negotiation between TRA Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉), the Railway Workers Union and the Train Drivers Union.
Representatives of the drivers union were reported to have left before the meeting ended, as they were upset that the TRA has yet to discuss adjusting the work schedule for drivers and was in hurry to tell train passengers how they could book their tickets, which went on sale at noon yesterday.
The drivers union said that it agreed to the negotiate in the first place because the TRA promised to spend the next three days talking about what it could do to avoid overworking the drivers.
Union members said they now felt pressured to accept the terms set by the TRA management when the latter made the announcement before any agreement was reached.
As the union has secured the signatures of almost 95 percent of the drivers for its petition, the union said that it would take the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday off if the railway does not resolve the issue.
The TRA said that it is planning to enforce its plan to transport passengers from Sept. 14 and Sept. 19, adding 203 additional trains on the schedule. They include 163 train services to the east coast and 40 along the west coast.
Between Sept. 15 and Sept. 18, the TRA has planned to have 18 commuter trains with reserved seats traveling between Shulin to Luodong. Travelers boarding any one of the 18 trains would need to pay only NT$100 if they travel from Shulin and Luodong, the TRA said.
Meanwhile, the TRA said that it would dispatch 14 additional Tzuchiang-class express trains on Sept. 14, Sept. 15 and Sept. 18 to transport passengers to the east coast.
Six of these trains would give priority access to people who were born in Hualien or Taitung or were registered residents in either of the two counties.
The other eight homebound train services were arranged by the Hualien or Taitung County Governments.
The drivers union said that it would launch a strike without advance warning if the TA fails to make good on the its promise after the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.
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