More than 60 percent of the public support the Cabinet’s proposed draft amendment to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), while Premier William Lai’s (賴清德) approval rate has risen by about 2 percentage points and President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) has fallen below the 40 percent benchmark, the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation said yesterday.
The proposed amendment, which would increase work flexibility by amending the “one fixed day off and one rest day” workweek scheme, was approved by 60.5 percent of respondents to the foundation’s latest poll, while 29.5 percent disagreed, foundation chairman You Ying-lung (游盈隆) said yesterday.
“With a more than 60 percent support rate, the amendment is the single most popular policy the Tsai administration has put forward,” You said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Looking at the draft amendment item by item, a proposal to conditionally lift the rule requiring one day off every week was supported by 54.6 percent of respondents, while 32.7 percent disapproved; and the plan to raise the maximum monthly overtime hours from 46 to 54 — with a total overtime in a three-month period capped at 138 — was backed by 58.9 percent of respondents, but 29.5 percent disliked it.
While 59.6 percent of respondents supported a proposal to scrap the current overtime calculation method, which entitles workers to four hours of overtime pay for working between one hour and four hours on their “rest days,” 32.7 percent disagreed.
Chang Ching-hsi (張清溪), an economics professor at National Taiwan University (NTU), said the “one fixed day off and one rest day” scheme is unconstitutional because it restricts freedom of work, so revising the rule is necessary.
Hsin Ping-lung (辛炳隆), a political science professor at NTU, said while the “one fixed day off and one rest day” scheme was a progressive law because it limited the maximum number of consecutive working days, wage stagnation is the most serious problem facing the nation’s labor market, and many workers depend on overtime pay.
Lai’s approval rating rose by 1.7 percentage points from last month to 59.7 percent, while his disapproval rating rose by 5.8 percentage points to 27.2 percent.
“Lai is one of the few popular premiers since 1996, when the first direct presidential election was held,” You said, attributing Lai’s popularity to his decisiveness and ability to address public dissatisfaction.
Tsai’s approval rating dropped by 5.1 percentage points from last month to 38.6 percent, with her disapproval rating up by 2.5 percentage points to 39.1 percent.
The drop might be associated with the Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co loan scandal, as well as a new wave of protests launched by the People Rule Foundation founder Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) against delays in amending the Referendum Act (公民投票法), You said.
A proposed amendment to the Referendum Act seeking to lower the thresholds for petitioning for and approving a referendum was backed by 55.8 percent of respondents to the poll, while 29.7 percent disagreed.
Fifty-eight percent said Tsai’s administration should approve the referendum amendment immediately, but 30.1 percent said it should not.
Asked if Tsai should hold a referendum on independence during her term in office, 43.4 percent of respondents agreed with the idea, while 47.8 percent disagreed.
While 41.2 percent said they would still pursue an independence referendum despite the threat of a possible Chinese invasion, 49.3 percent said they would not.
Asked who has the right to decide Taiwan’s future, 86 percent said only the 23.5 million Taiwanese have the right, while 6.2 percent said Chinese should also have a say.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) scored 51.52 on the survey’s “feeling thermometer,” suggesting that Taiwanese have warm or favorable feelings toward him, You said.
The “feelings thermometer” measures how respondents view politicians on a 0-100 scale, with 100 points reflecting the highest level of favorability, zero the lowest and 50 neutral feelings.
Twenty-nine percent of respondents gave Xi a score of more than 51 points, while 39.9 percent expressed neutral feelings and 19.9 percent gave him a score of less than 49, resulting in an average of 51.52.
In comparison, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) scored 41.64 when he left office on May 20 last year.
The poll, conducted from Monday to Wednesday last week, collected 1,074 valid samples and has a margin of error of 2.99 percentage points.
Additional reporting by CNA
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