The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) yesterday said that it is communicating with its train drivers in a bid to prevent a strike during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday next month.
The TRA Train Drivers’ Union recently passed a resolution declaring that its members are to take the three-day national holiday off in accordance with Labor Standards Act (勞基法) regulations.
The union said a dramatic increase in passenger numbers and the opening of an electrified railway line between Hualien and Taitung have helped increase drivers’ workload to the point that most of them cannot have two days off each week and have to take turns taking holiday leave.
The union also said that it was opposed to a proposal to install a dashboard camera in each train.
The TRA said that it did not have the staff numbers to provide flexible schedules for its employees, but stressed that all train drivers receive extra pay if they are asked to work on holidays.
It said the union has asked to double the payment for mandatory break time during working hours — from NT$400 to NT$800 — with stand-by hours increasing from 34 hours to 36 hours, and it wants drivers paid for stand-by hours.
The TRA said the mandatory break time is a legal requirement to ensure safe driving. For example, if a driver operates a train from New Taipei City’s Shulin District (樹林) to Hualien, they must rest for four hours before their next assignment.
A train driver works an average of six hours and 40 minutes per day, and the agency does not overwork its drivers, so the request to be paid for stand-by hours was unreasonable as well, the TRA said.
If it has to pay for drivers resting and sleeping, its personnel budget will increase substantially, the TRA said, adding that drivers should not threaten the TRA or the public with the possibility of a strike over a key holiday, it said.
The agency defended the decision to install dashboard cameras on engines, saying that it would reduce the time needed by prosecutors to collect on-site evidence in case of an accident and therefore speed up the reopening of the rail tracks after an incident.
However, one TRA train driver responded to the agency’s comments anonymously online by saying that he was really tired and was determined not to work over the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, as is his legal right.
“I feel hopeless to see the TRA describe us as a bunch of ‘ugly’employees threatening to go on a strike for asking for more pay. The train drivers spend almost 12 hours at work, but they get paid for less than 10 hours,” the driver said.
Even though drivers have to take four to five hours as mandatory break, they are only paid for one to two hours, the driver wrote.
This made such payment seem like charity, he said.
A driver must apply for leave of absence at least two weeks to one month in advance, and such requests are not always approved, the driver wrote.
The driver said he realized he has a responsibility to the public, but he could not condone supervisors smearing the reputation of train drivers.
“They should ask themselves what kind of job environment they are offering the drivers,” he said.
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