Labor groups and opposition lawmakers gave a negative response to the Executive Yuan's plan to impose a 44-hour workweek yesterday, which reversed a decision by the legislature to shorten the workweek to 84 hours in a two-week period.
The reduced 44-hour workweek was originally put forward by the Cabinet in agreement with labor leaders on June 22 and was supposed to be implemented on Jan. 1. But because the minority DPP failed to support its legislation, the KMT-dominated legislature passed a measure for 84 hours every two weeks instead. There is a 13-day difference between the plans in terms of the number of days off a person would receive each year, with 97 days of rest as opposed to 110 days for the 84-hour proposal.
Opposition lawmakers said they would not support the Executive Yuan's plan unless the government managed to establish a consensus on the issue with labor groups.
The new proposal, a result of the consensus reached by the president's nine-person policy-making group on Tuesday night, will be sent to the legislature.
"Due to the decline of the stock market, high unemployment rate and the economic recession, if the [plan to work 84 hours] is implemented next year, it will have a large and negative impact on industry," government spokesman Su Tzen-ping (蘇正平) quoted Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) as saying yesterday morning, adding that the consequent likely exodus of industries to China would further worsen unemployment in Taiwan.
The new plan, initiated by Chang, was endorsed by the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA, 勞委會) at yesterday's Cabinet meeting.
"If a better investment environment is provided for industries, the conditions of workers will also be improved, creating a win-win situation that will benefit both industry and labor," said Chen Shen-hsien (
Legislative Yuan speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"The executive branch, ruling party and industrial groups should conduct positive communication with labor groups to win their understanding," Wang said.
Wang said if necessary, he is willing to coordinate between ruling and opposition lawmakers to try to reach an agreement on the issue.
KMT caucus whip Her Jyh-huei (
Her said that by taking the move, the Executive Yuan was trying to blame the recent economic slowdown and industrial emigration on the decision to shorten the workweek to 84 hours in a two-week period. Another reason why the DPP made the decision, he said, was to try to win favor with industry.
The revision was proposed by the KMT caucus in what analysts have said was an attempt to outshine the DPP-ruled government's original plan to shorten the workweek to 44 hours.
Also yesterday, leaders of the Chinese Federation of Labor (中華民國全國總工會) and the Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions (全國產業總工會), two major labor groups, expressed their strong disapproval of the plan to reverse the workweek policy. They threatened to stage demonstrations to pressure lawmakers to stick to their position.
Lin Hui-kuan (林惠官), chairman of the Chinese Federation of Labor called the decision "very reckless" and said that it will cause laborers to "lose faith" in the government.
The Cabinet's revision, though slated to go into effect on Jan. 1, still has to be sent to the Legislative Yuan for review.
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