A coalition of unions yesterday protested outside the Ministry of Labor in Taipei to demand that it include industrial and trade union members in labor inspections.
The protest was organized by a dozen unions, including the Taiwan Higher Education Union, the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) Labor Union and the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union.
At present, before conducting labor inspections at a company, authorities must invite members of the company’s union to take part, but not those in industrial and trade unions, the groups said in a statement.
Photo: CNA
Only 58,000 Taiwanese are members of their companies’ unions, which account for just 5.4 percent of the nation’s workers, they said.
“However, industrial and trade unions have a total of 2.8 million members. If only company union members are allowed to participate in labor inspections, how would the government ensure that the rights of those 2.8 million workers are protected,” the statement said.
Industrial or trade union members have occasionally been allowed to take part in such inspections and have helped uncover breaches of labor law, they said.
“The ministry should require authorities to invite industrial and labor union representatives to participate in inspections. Currently, less than 6 percent of companies in Taiwan have their own unions. Only by improving the participation of industrial and trade unions in labor inspections can the government effectively prevent tragedies in workplaces,” they said.
The unions also demanded that the authorities issue invitations to union representatives at least seven days in advance to ensure that they could attend.
“There have been many cases where union representatives were unable to go because they were given short notice,” the statement said.
However, Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) said current regulations can handle the problem.
Article 22 of the Labor Inspection Act (勞動檢查法) stipulates that labor inspectors should invite company union representatives to join inspections, but in situations where it is necessary to have industrial or trade union representatives present, the latter can also be invited, as stipulated by Article 23, she said.
Article 23 also states that when necessary, a labor inspector can invite academics, experts, doctors, officials from the regulatory authority of the company under inspection, as well as representatives from related groups to participate in an inspection after reporting to the labor inspection agency and obtaining approval, she said.
The company being inspected cannot refuse, she said.
The ministry said in a statement that it would encourage local governments to use the mechanism in the law more often to make inspections more effective.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard