Minister of Labor Lin Mei-chu (林美珠) officially assumed office yesterday, promising better communication while continuing her predecessor’s policies.
“I am extremely clear that when government ministries face problems, there is a need to communicate with people and listen to different opinions. That is why I am going to try and improve communication with people,” she said. “Even though there will inevitably be many different opinions about every policy and achieving 100 percent agreement is not possible, I will definitely work toward societal consensus, looking for the greatest common denominators, which guarantee the interests of the majority.”
Controversy over amendments to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) is widely viewed as the key reason for the dismissal of previous labor minister Kuo Fong-yu (郭芳煜), with President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration reportedly saying he was ineffective in explaining the complex changes, which reduced national holidays while changing overall working hour restrictions.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Lin said she would follow Kuo’s recommendation to draft supplementary measures for implementing the amendments, while playing an active role in the drafting and passage of pension reforms.
She also said that she intendeds to push for a minimum wage law, new safety protections and better cooperation between capital and labor interests.
Lin refused to accept reporters’ questions before retreating behind closed doors for meetings.
“When I took office last year, I thought I was being handed a ‘baton’ on the Labor Standards Act amendments, but they turned out to be a ‘hot potato,’” said Kuo, while defending the policy which has resulted in his being the shortest-serving head of the ministry and its predecessor, the Council of Labor Affairs.
“Even if we did not satisfy everyone’s demands 100 percent, at the very least it was something that everyone could accept, and that is basically what labor policy has always required,” he said.
A large crowd of ministry workers following him out of the building, holding a bower of flowers over him and cheering as he left.
“It would be right not to give Kuo the applause he deserves for the labor standards reforms,” Minister Without Portfolio Lin Wan-i (林萬億) said, adding that people should not call the ministry a “pit of fire” for ministerial careers because of the controversy.
Kuo is rumored to be under consideration for the position of minister of Civil Service Protection and Training Commission.
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