Seven major business groups yesterday said they would terminate all labor negotiations on wages if the government fails to honor an agreement to cut the number of officially designated holidays per year from 19 to 12, as part of the government’s plans to implement a universal 40-hour workweek.
The controversy came after the Ministry of Labor on Monday last week announced the restoration of seven public holidays that the previous government had planned to cut from workers’ yearly holiday schedule.
The Executive Yuan on Tuesday last week officially annulled an amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法施行細則) that would have removed seven public holidays from workers’ entitlements.
The restoration of the holidays comes a week after labor groups lodged a protest against the loss of the seven public holidays in front of the Executive Yuan building in Taipei.
The ministry held 35 hearings last year, at which labor and management representatives reached an agreement to cut weekly working hours from 84 hours over a two-week period to 40 hours per week, paving the way for the amendment’s implementation from Jan. 1 next year, Chinese National Federation of Industries chairman Hsu Sheng-hsiung (許勝雄) said.
The amendment was designed to guarantee workers two days off per week and reduce legal working hours from 84 hours every two weeks to 40 hours per week.
Despite the overall increase in total days off, there were terms and conditions attached to the amendment — lifting the monthly limit for overtime from 46 to 54 hours and axing seven public holidays — to protect workers’ rights to paid holidays and offset firms’ operating costs, Hsu said.
After deducting the seven national holidays, workers would receive the equivalent of additional six days off per year, Hsu added.
However, the amendment has been annulled, as the government breached the agreement, he said.
According to a ministry report, South Koreans worked an average of 2,124 hours in 2010, while workers in Singapore and Hong Kong clocked up 2,392 hours and Taiwanese worked 2,134 hours in the same year.
If the seven national holidays were cut, Taiwanese would work an average of 2,086 hours, still fewer than their counterparts in South Korea and Singapore, Hsu said.
Hsu urged the government to stick to the agreement reached and work to push the amendment through the Legislative Yuan.
Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce chairman Lin Por-fong (林伯豐) also called on the government to fulfill the agreement.
Lin had said that for every additional seven days off for workers, wage costs would increase by 2 percent for companies.
Minister of Labor Kuo Fan-yu (郭芳煜) said he hopes the major business groups will not suspend negotiations with workers over wage issues.
Kuo said he would communicate with the business groups regarding the government’s stance.
About 20 labor rights activists stormed into the Chinese National Federation of Industries head office, where the seven business associations were holding a news conference and issued their statement.
CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT: A new committee would investigate a backlog of US weapons sales to Taiwan, said its chairman, US Representative Mike Gallagher The US should formally recognize Taiwan as an independent nation, and end its outdated and counterproductive “one China” policy, US Representative Tom Tiffany and 18 other US lawmakers wrote in a petition. “It is time to change the status quo and recognize the reality denied by the US government for decades: Taiwan is an independent nation,” Tiffany told the Epoch Times. “As our long-standing and valued partner, correctly acknowledging their independence from communist China is long overdue.” The resolution also asks the administration of US President Joe Biden to support Taiwan’s membership in international organizations and to negotiate a bilateral free-trade
The Pentagon is preparing for US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy to visit Taiwan later this year, Punchbowl News reported on Monday, citing an official directly involved in the talks. US administration officials anticipate McCarthy would visit Taiwan some time in the spring, the report said. McCarthy had previously pledged to visit Taiwan if he became House speaker. He was elected speaker earlier this month. He had also said that he would have liked to join then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s delegation when she visited Taiwan in August last year. Pelosi’s 19-hour visit to Taipei marked the first time in 25 years
Taiwan’s Chou Chieh-yu (周婕妤) was crowned the Kamui WPA Women’s World 9-Ball Champion after shutting out British pool titan Allison Fisher 9-0 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the organizers said on Sunday. Following the championship win at Harrah’s Resort and Casino Atlantic City, Chou pocketed US$30,000 and became the first female competitor to hold both the 9-ball and 10-ball world titles since Briton Kelly Fisher in 2012. Chou, 36, won the Predator World Women’s 10-Ball Championship in Austria in September last year after clinching a silver medal at last year’s World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, in July. “I’m very excited and it’s like
JOINT OPERATIONS: Participating in the IMET program, which offers professional training and education to military personnel, would boost Taiwan’s defense capabilities The US government is appropriating funding to help Taiwan participate in its International Military Education & Training (IMET) program to enhance interoperability and capabilities for joint operations of the Taiwanse and US militaries. The funding for Taiwan’s participation in the program is mentioned in the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2023, a US$1.7 trillion spending bill funding the US federal government for the fiscal year 2023. It covers funding for military support for Ukraine, defense spending and regions affected by natural disasters. The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) that IMET is an important US