On Workers’ Memorial Day yesterday, a coalition of labor rights groups protested on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei, calling for better labor insurance coverage for occupational injuries and illnesses.
Led by the Taiwan Association for Victims of Occupational Injuries (TAVOI), protesters urged the government to raise the average premium an employer must pay for an employee’s occupational injuries and illnesses coverage from 0.21 percent to 5 percent of an employee’s monthly salary.
The Ministry of Labor last month said it was drafting a bill on labor insurance coverage, but that the new legislation would not change the monthly premium that employers are responsible for.
Photo: CNA
Improving labor insurance coverage for occupational injuries and illnesses by passing a new law was one of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) campaign pledges in 2016.
“We have been waiting for [the legislation] for two years and were utterly disappointed with the ministry’s briefing on the bill at the public hearing last month,” association member Liu Nien-Yun (劉念雲) said.
“It left us wondering whether the Tsai administration is rushing to pass the bill, much like an elementary-school child trying to quickly complete his summer break assignment before school starts,” she said.
The 0.21 percent premium employers are responsible for is much lower than required in many other countries, she added.
Former Radio Corp of America (RCA) employee Liu Ho-yun (劉荷雲) said that the government does not provide labor insurance payouts for occupational illnesses diagnosed after a person’s insurance plan ends.
Many former RCA workers who lost their insurance when they stopped working have been unable to receive occupational illness coverage, despite a Supreme Court ruling that found the US company liable for the cancer that its employees developed from handling carcinogenic organic solvents, she said.
“Cancer comes with medical costs and other consequences that few can shoulder, but what has the government done to help us?” she asked.
The new bill should be able to be retroactively applied so that people such as the RCA workers can receive their insurance payments, association member Ho Kuang-wan (賀光卍) said.
“To sufficiently cover occupational illnesses for those who would retroactively benefit from the change, we believe the [average] premium for employers must be increased to 5 percent,” he said.
The ministry said that it is in the process of reviewing the draft bill before submitting it to the Executive Yuan.
Six public hearings would be held by the end of next month to collect opinions on the draft, and members of the public are welcome to offer suggestions, the ministry said.
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