President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday told the Ministry of Economic Affairs to determine which officials at the state-funded Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) were responsible for organizing a course for employers that offered tips on how to circumvent labor laws.
The content of the six-hour course, which was offered by ITRI College — the institute’s education and training service and was scheduled to start on May 17 — included an introduction to the best ways to circumvent the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) such as how to handle the deaths of employees from suspected overwork.
The course went unnoticed until Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) questioned the propriety of such training courses at a meeting of the legislature’s Economic Committee on Thursday.
Photo: Liao Hsueh-ju, Taipei Times
In addition to offering a written apology over the incident that same day, ITRI also canceled the program.
Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said Ma attached great importance to the rights of workers and had spared no effort in seeking to strengthen those rights since taking office three years ago. He was therefore understandable angry at a course that sought to undermine labor rights.
“President Ma demanded an immediate apology from ITRI officials, and the institute will be expected to take full responsibility ... If personnel or course instructor are found to have engaged in illegal acts, punishment must also be meted out,” Lo said.
The Labor Union Act (工會法), Collective Agreement Act (團體協約法) and Settlement of Labor Disputes Act (勞資爭議處理法), will take effect tomorrow (Workers’ Day) and the course offered by the institute undermined the government’s efforts in pushing for labor rights, he said.
ITRI president Shyu Jyuo-min (徐爵民) apologized to the public over the course yesterday. ITRI College chief executive Wang Feng-kuei (王鳳奎), was dismissed to take responsibility for the incident.
Shyu said the course was planned on the basis of recommendations made by businesses, but admitted that ITRI College had been at fault for not screening the content properly.
Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-hsiang (施顏祥) said ITRI has been asked to present a report to the ministry within a week.
Meanwhile, Council of Labor Affairs Deputy Minister Pan Shih-wei (潘世偉) said any lecturers or lawyers caught offering similar courses in the future would be put on a blacklist and banned from participating in council-sponsored training programs.
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