The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday joined forces with leaders of a dozen labor unions in urging people to join a march today against what they called the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) “detrimental” draft amendment to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法).
“Judging by the news conference on Thursday, the Executive Yuan does not intend to remedy the draft amendment at all and was still defending itself, even though the time frame for cross-caucus negotiations is to end on Jan. 4,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) told a news conference held jointly with 11 union heads at the legislature in Taipei.
The DPP’s draft bill proposes that employers must obtain their employees’ consent through negotiations with unions or meetings with employees before they are allowed to tweak the “one day off every seven days” workweek policy or shorten the rest time between shifts from 11 to 8 hours.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The negotiations are an empty gesture, as only about 7 percent of workers are unionized, Lin said.
KMT caucus members are to join today’s march to express their solidarity with workers, he added.
The protest is to start at DPP headquarters on Beiping E Road at 2pm and finish in front of the legislature on Jinan Road at 5pm.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Federation of Aviation Employees director-general Jesse Lee (李昭平) said as flight attendants, ground staff and repair personnel in the aviation industry work shifts, the DPP’s proposal to shorten the rest time between shifts would pose a risk to their health.
“President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), you said that you have a soft spot for workers. Did you mean to say that we are soft?” Lee said, urging workers nationwide to report their health concerns directly to the president and to attend today’s protest.
Chunghwa Postal Workers’ Union director-general Cheng Kuang-ming (鄭光明) criticized the DPP for ignoring calls for a provision to allow workers to convert overtime into compensatory leave.
Northern Taiwan Federation of Bus Company Unions director-general Kao Ling-kuo (高令國) said 30 percent of deceased bus drivers die from overwork, but the government wants to further extend their working hours, which he strongly opposes.
KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) and Minister of Labor Lin Mei-chu (林美珠) on Thursday tried to justify the DPP’s draft bill by stressing that only people who work shifts, such as bus drivers and paramedics, would be affected by the amendments.
Their remarks were likely aimed at talking people out of attending the march, Chiang said.
“However, they will be hard-pressed to justify the DPP’s evasion of lawmakers’ scrutiny,” he said, referring to the DPP caucus grouping the separate amendments and voting to clear them through committee reviews on Dec. 4.
He urged people from all walks of life to take to the streets today to show their support for the workers that would be affected.
KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) said today’s march would show the DPP that the shouting during protests against the bill is not from “cassette players” — a dig at DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩), who said that the voices of protesters outside the legislature on Dec. 4 were audio recordings.
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