Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) employees yesterday stormed into the Executive Yuan in Taipei as part of a protest against , as party staff face mass layoffs as a result of the government freezing KMT assets.
Nine KMT employees — some riding bikes and one driving a motorcycle — charged into the Executive Yuan’s main building, where Premier Lin Chuan’s (林全) office as they tried trying to reach the second floor.
“Come out, Lin Chuan. Workers cannot survive,” the protesters reportedly said.
Photo: CNA, provided by a member of the public
The nine protesters are members of a KMT self-help group seeking to secure salaries and pensions, as the party has failed to pay wages and announced a downsizing plan after the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee froze KMT bank accounts and checks and prohibited the party from accessing bank accounts to make salary payments.
The self-help group has staged a prolonged protest in front of the headquarters of the Cabinet committee for 34 days, but the committee has ignored their demands to allow the KMT to pay salaries, said group convener Chou Po-yin (周柏吟), who was part of the group that stromed the building.
“We feel helpless after sleeping on the street for 34 days and we have no choice, but to lodge a complaint with the Executive Yuan, the committee’s supervising agency,” Chou said.
The nine face unemployment by the end of this month, as the KMT plans to lay off all of its 738 employees before rehiring 310.
Party employees received only half salary for the past two months and do not know if they will receive any salary this month, Chou said.
The group staged a protest in front of the Ministry of Labor earlier yesterday over what they said was the committee’s infringement of labor rights, but they were denied entry into the building.
The Executive Yuan condemned the incident, but said it would not pursue the intruders over the intrusion and property damage, although they will face charges of damaging a historic building and contempt for authority.
One of the nine is said to be a KMT official appointed by KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱).
The handling of ill-gotten party assets is a major part of the government’s efforts to bring about transitional justice and the KMT should not mislead the public by confusing the party assets issue with labor rights, the Executive Yuan said, calling on the party to take care of its employees.
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