The media has recently been full of commentary that wages and labor time should become more flexible. The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA, 勞委會) has stated that, in addition to the existing Labor Standards Law (勞基法), it may adopt multiple standards to match working conditions in various occupations and do away with the existing system of severance procedures.
The Council is correct in trying to establish a system for protecting the rights of employees in new industries, but as it is currently still unable to enforce existing labor regulations, creating a new set of standards is likely to give rise to further problems.
The present severance system in Taiwan is a form of occupational welfare designed to provide for employees who have been laid off. It protects workers' right of survival. Unemployment insurance, on the other hand is closely linked with occupational training and employment services, making this type of welfare a protection of workers' right to work. The CLA's decision to abolish the severance system shows that the council has completely confused the right to work with the right of survival. Moreover, the CLA is unable to force employers to comply with the present pension system.
In the end, it is the workers who lose out on retirement benefits. These problems will not disappear even if the CLA implements a transferable pension account system in the future. (The existing pension system forces workers to stay with one employer for long periods to collect pension benefits.) Workers presently face serious economic hardships after losing their jobs, and the situation will only get worse if the CLA abolishes the severance pay system in a bid to help employers lower costs.
The size and strength of unions in Europe and America enable labor disputes there to be settled through arbitration, often bringing gains to workers through collective bargaining agreements. The government only plays a supervisory and supporting role in this process. Unions in Taiwan, however, have been stunted by the regressive Union Law (
The strength of capital and labor in Taiwan is lopsided, preventing healthy industrial negotiations from taking place. The government has also begun to relinquish its role in Taiwan's tripartite scheme, leaving labor at the mercy of capital. Workers, in the end, are left to fend for themselves, creating many social problems. As long as strong and autonomous unions do not develop, labor disputes over wages, work time or vacation time will not be solved by merely setting up additional labor standards.
Chien Hsi-chieh is a DPP Legislator.
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