Close to 2,000 workers and labor rights advocates yesterday bombarded Ketaglan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office with eggs while tussling with police as they protested against low wages, unfair labor policies, rising prices and a growing labor insurance deficit.
Despite attempts from the police to calm the crowd, the angry workers — mobilized by various labor organizations, including the Labor Party, Taiwan International Workers’ Association (TIWA), Raged Citizens Act Now and unions from across the country — threw eggs in the direction of the Presidential Office, though they were kept 300m away from the building itself by a line of police.
“Down with the government! Taiwan is finished!” they chanted as they threw eggs across the police line.
Photo Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
Failing to stop the crowd, hundreds of police officers in riot gear could do nothing but stand behind two large nets and hold their shields high to prevent eggs from hitting them.
Occasionally, officers would advance from behind the police line, trying to arrest protesters who threw more dangerous items, such as smoke bombs, but they were quickly surrounded by the crowd, trying to rescue their fellow protesters, sparking clashes between the two sides.
The demonstration was held in response to several developments affecting labor rights, including the Cabinet’s decision to only partially agree to the Council of Labor Affairs’ proposal to raise the legal minimum wage, the Cabinet’s plan to relax restrictions on hiring foreign laborers and its mulling having separate minimum wages for domestic and foreign workers.
Photo Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
It also follows the news that the labor insurance system could go broke within two decades and that the government was considering increasing premiums for those who are working, but cutting payments to retired workers.
“President Ma Ying-jeou [馬英九] said that he would work to revive the economy, but when we look at the policies that the government came up with, it’s not hard to realize that they are not working to revive the economy for all, they only work for the benefit of the few,” Taipei City Confederation of Trade Unions secretary-general Chiang Wan-chin (蔣萬金) told the crowd. “They are working for the benefit of big corporations and the wealthy.”
Chiang said that one of the measures that the government was mulling was the relaxation of restrictions on the number of foreign workers that a business may hire.
“This is going to help the big corporations because they can cut costs by hiring more foreign workers and laying off domestic workers,” he said.
TIWA secretary-general Chen Hsiu-lien (陳秀蓮) criticized the government’s proposal to have separate minimum wages for foreign workers and domestic workers.
“If an employer could hire a foreign worker for NT$15,000 a month, why would he or she hire a domestic worker for NT$35,000?” Chen asked.
Chen said that decades ago, big businesses threatened to move their production units overseas unless the government agreed to allow them to import foreign workers, but despite being allowed to hire foreign workers, they still moved their production overseas anyway.
“They are playing the same game again now, we should not be deceived again,” she said.
NOT BUYING IT: One of the goals of Beijing’s Cross-Strait Media People Summit was to draw mainstream media executives to discuss the ‘one country, two systems’ formula Taiwanese news media insist on press freedom and professionalism, and would never become a tool of China’s “united front” campaign, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said yesterday, responding to media queries about the lack of Taiwanese media executives at the Cross-Strait Media People Summit in Beijing. Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧) was reportedly furious that no Taiwanese media representatives attended a scheduled meeting with him on Thursday last week. “Beijing should take Taiwan’s determination to pursue freedom and democracy seriously. We also hope that it will not use vicious means to interfere with Taiwan’s development into a
IMMIGRATION REFORM: The legislative amendments aim to protect the rights of families to reunify, and to attract skilled professionals to stay and work in Taiwan Foreigners who are highly skilled professionals, top-prize winners in professional disciplines, investment immigration applicants or have made special contributions to Taiwan can soon apply for permanent residency on behalf of their spouses and minor or disabled children after the legislature approved amendments to the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法). The amendments, which were proposed by the Ministry of the Interior and approved by the Executive Yuan on Jan. 12, aim to attract foreign talent to Taiwan and encourage them to stay. They would take effect once they are signed by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文). The amendments involved changing 63 articles, making it the biggest
FIRST STEP: Business groups in Taiwan welcomed the deal, which does not include tariff reductions at this stage, as they called for the elimination of double taxation Taiwan and the US yesterday signed an initial agreement under the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade. The agreement was signed yesterday morning by Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Managing Director Ingrid Larson in Washington, the Office of Trade Negotiations in Taipei said. The ceremony was witnessed by Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) and Deputy US Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi. Taiwan and the US started talks under the initiative in August last year, after Taipei was left out of the Washington-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. “The deal that will be signed tonight is not only very historic,
Beijing yesterday blamed US “provocation” for an incident last week in which a Chinese plane crossed in front of a US surveillance aircraft over the South China Sea. The incident came at a time of frayed ties between Washington and Beijing over issues including Taiwan and the shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon that flew over the US this year. “The United States’ long-term and frequent sending of ships and planes to conduct close surveillance on China seriously harms China’s national sovereignty and security,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning (毛寧) said when asked about the latest incident. “This
RSS