Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) has pledged to conduct a comprehensive review of the personnel system at Chunghwa Post after the state-run postal company was listed by the Council of Labor Affairs as the nation’s third-largest sweatshop.
Based on the council’s labor standards inspection report last year, the postal firm had 48 recorded violations of the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法). About one-third of violations concerned irregularities found on employees’ attendance sheets.
The postal firm was fined NT$428,000 (US$14,270) for violations of the Labor Standards Act and the council also named it one of the largest sweatshops in the nation, behind only KFC and MacDonald’s.
Lawmakers of the legislature’s Transportation Committee had received complaints from workers of Chunghwa Post, particularly from mail delivery personnel. Because of these petitions, the committee on Thursday asked Mao to report on how the ministry planned to protect the interests of employees in view of the labor disputes.
“We have to clear ourselves from the reputation of being a sweatshop,” Mao said. “This [the notorious title] is simply unacceptable.”
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-tse (李昆澤) said the company could soon be the No.1 sweat shop if it fails to improve working conditions. DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said postal workers in Greater Tainan had suffered retribution because they asked lawmakers for help when they asked headquarters for more delivery personnel.
In response, Mao promised to settle the disputes by reviewing and reforming the personnel system over the summer.
“First and foremost we need to adhere to the rules stated in the Labor Standards Act,” Mao said.
Mao added that some less efficient workers might abuse the system to claim more overtime pay and would end up being paid more than more efficient workers. He said the reformed system must prevent this from happening.
Chunghwa Post chairman Oliver Yu (游芳來) said many postal workers have had problems adjusting to the regulations in the Labor Standards Act.
“In the past, mail delivery workers could come to mail rooms early and sort the mail as early as 7am,” Yu said. “If they could have all the mail delivered by 12pm, they could get off work without having to sign anything. However, the Labor Standards Act requires them to record the times they start and finish work.”
Yu added that the company would gradually reduce the number of contractors — currently 668 — hired to deliver mail.
This hiring practice had made Chunghwa Post the target of criticism, as labor rights advocates had accused the firm of using it to avoid following the Labor Standards Act, he said.
“It [the practice] has hurt the image of Chunghwa Post, even though it was originally intended to increase jobs in certain localities,” Yu said. “We will try to help them become formal employees through the civil service examinations.”
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
SECURITY RISK: A university student sent a general alarm signal to THSRC’s control center on April 5, causing four operating trains to temporarily halt services The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday pledged to submit a report on ways to harden the communication security of railway systems after a university student hacked into Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp’s (THSRC) radio communications system and disrupted operations of four high-speed rail trains last month. Investigation by the police and prosecutors found that the university student and radio enthusiast, surnamed Lin (林), first used a software-defined radio (SDR) filter to analyze THSRC signals, downloaded the data to a computer, cracked the parameters and then programmed the codes into his radio devices. Lin then sent a general alarm signal to
RSS