Fri, Sep 15, 2006 page1

• Strike is on, but will people join?

  PRESSURE Anti-Chen movement organizers said backing from some unions had persuaded them to call for a strike, but it's not clear a strike would win widespread support

  • By Mo Yan-chih / STAFF REPORTER
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  The leader of the campaign to oust the president yesterday said that he could call for a nationwide strike to increase the momentum of his campaign, but all of the major political parties were skeptical about the move and officials said labor laws could not protect anyone taking part.

  The campaign's decisionmakers have been divided over whether to call for a strike as an extreme measure to pressure President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), but after some labor unions -- including the labor union of Mega International Commercial Bank -- expressed their support, the camp has agreed to call for a strike.

  "A strike can be one of the means of successfully ousting A-bian [the president's nickname], but there must be the premise that the strike will be launched peacefully and rationally," said former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德), the leader of the campaign.

  Shih declined to go into detail.

  "The [campaign's] discussion is over, and we're waiting for the right time to announce the details," he said.

  Ho De-fen (賀德芬), a campaign spokesman, said the camp had decided on four options, and may only call for a one-day strike to minimize the possible impact on the country's economy.

  Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday warned that a nationwide strike would have a negative impact on society and the economy.

  "A strike is a measure that should not be used unless necessary ... So far there have been no such nationwide strikes in Taiwan," Ma said as he attended a question-and-answer session in his role as Taipei mayor at the Taipei City Council.

  When asked how such an action would be interpreted under the Labor Union Law (工會法), Taipei City Labor Affairs Commissioner Shih Yu-ling (師豫玲) -- a KMT appointee -- said a strike is legal when a dispute occurs in relations between labor and management. But as the strike that Shih's camp plans does not fall into this category, employees who leave their duties to attend the strike may not be covered by the law, Shih Yu-ling said.

  Later, KMT Taipei City Councilor Wang Hao (王浩) asked Ma whether his wife, Chou Mei-ching (周美青) -- the deputy director of the bank's legal department -- would join a strike.

  "I dare not intervene in her affairs," Ma said.

  The DPP caucus, in the meantime, called on the public to use its consuming power to counter what it called a "political strike."

  "I am urging people to answer blow-for-blow, because that is the way to stop political turmoil caused by this `political strike,'" DPP Legislator Julian Kuo (郭正亮) said.

  If the unions of state-run banks dared to stage a strike, Kuo urged consumers to withdraw their money from those institutions.

  If the unions of Chunghwa Telecom Co, Chinese Petroleum Co (CPC) or the Taiwan Railway Administration -- which were organized by the KMT and whose leadership remains largely pro-blue -- strike, Kuo said he would urge people to switch phone companies, refuse to buy gas from the CPC and to use buses or planes for travel.

  DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) said that if state-run business unions had the guts to stage a strike, they should also have the courage to bear the lay-offs caused by the strike.

  "I'd like them to ask themselves a question: Do you want to see the country destroyed, simply for the sake of an unjustifiable cause?" he said.

  Minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen (陳瑞隆) meanwhile appealed to the public yesterday, warning that Taiwan's economy could not afford a strike.

  "Strikes -- or even a mere work slow-down -- would severely affect investor confidence and impact investment in Taiwan, leading to an economic slow-down from which all would suffer," Chen said, expressing his strong opposition to the idea.

  He said Taiwan had reached a point in which all efforts must be concentrated on developing the economy. In order to achieve the projected 4.23 percent economic growth rate, he said, the Executive Yuan has mapped out a "grand investment plan," hoping to encourage more private-sector investment and stimulate the economy so that all may reap the benefits of economic growth.

  The minister said he had spoken with union leaders at state-owned enterprises, "and they told me that a priority for their companies is to surmount management difficulties and increase productivity."

  Additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling and CNA
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