Minister of Transportation and Communications Wu Hong-mo (吳宏謀) yesterday promised to communicate with Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) employees about a proposal to turn the agency into a corporation, adding that the ministry has yet to make a final decision.
Wu took office after receiving the seal of the office from his predecessor, Hochen Tan (賀陳旦), at a ceremony at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, which was witnessed by Minister Without Portfolio Chang Ching-sen (張景森).
Before the ceremony about 10 members of the Taiwan Railway Union gathered at the main entrance of the building, protesting the ministry’s corporatization proposal.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
Protesters said the ministry plans to corporatize the agency and then privatize it.
That would create a public safety crisis, they said.
They asked Wu to state clearly where he stands on the issue, adding that the union is open to debate with the new minister regarding the matter.
Later yesterday, Wu said that he would speak with union members about issues of corporatization, adding that the ministry respects the diversity of opinions from TRA employees.
The ministry would protect the interests of TRA employees and ensure the railways operator can grow sustainably, Wu said, adding that employees can only be protected if the agency has a sustainable development plan.
The advantages and disadvantages of corporatization would be presented to employees at a meeting with union members, Wu said.
The proposal to corporatize the TRA was announced by Hochen last month, who said the ministry aimed to spend six months laying out specific timelines for the change.
The ministry also planned to adjust ticket prices to reflect railway operation costs, Hochen said.
However, the proposal drew strong opposition from some TRA employees.
The union said it feared workers’ interests could be compromised and passed a resolution authorizing its management to seek arbitration from the Taipei City Government over disputes that might arise due to corporatization.
“There is a good reason to push for corporatization of the TRA, but of course employees might be anxious and unsure about their futures,” Wu said. “We have an obligation to let them know that they will have a better future.”
Wu reiterated that the ministry has not decided whether it will proceed with corporatization.
In his inaugural address, Wu said work on projects listed in the Forward-Looking Infrastructure Development Program would be sped up.
The ministry would continue to adhere to the core values established during his predecessor’s term when it executes major national construction projects, including safety, efficiency, quality, innovation and sustainability, he said.
Wu denied that the Democratic Progressive Party administration has used the projects to attract favorable reports by local opinion leaders to boost its chances of winning local elecions in November.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods