Only 2 percent of the more than 80,000 temporary assistants taking part in National Science Council (NSC) research projects in collaboration with universities nationwide are covered by the labor insurance and national health insurance (NHI) programs, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said yesterday.
“University campuses should not be sweatshops and these workers should not be orphans excluded from the social security net,” DPP legislators Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) and Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) told a press conference, urging the Ministry of Education to warn universities not to violate the law, and the Council of Labor Affairs to immediately carry out inspections and fine offenders.
Among the 62,992 part-time assistants in such projects, only 845 have labor insurance coverage and 809 have NHI insurance coverage, while 830 of the 19,530 part-time workers in the projects were covered by labor insurance and 480 were covered by the NHI, Lin said.
Only Fu Jen Catholic University and the National Defense Medical Center included a large majority of their part-time workers in the two insurance programs, while only 41 of the 10,780 part-time workers at National Taiwan University were insured, Lin said.
While representatives from the council said the employment relationship between the assistants — even if they are students — and the schools is beyond doubt, Ni Chou-hua (倪周華), a counselor at the ministry’s Department of Higher Education, said that this had to be determined on a case by case basis.
Budget should not be a concern because insurance expenses are included in the council’s subsidies for research projects, said Tsou Yu-han (鄒幼涵), director of the council’s Department of Central Processing.
“If the issue is not resolved as soon as possible, it could be even more difficult for universities in Taiwan to recruit young academics, who usually begin their careers as assistants in various research programs,” Cheng said.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
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