Thu, Nov 23, 2017 page3

• Reforms would set rights back 100 years: union head

  PROGRESSIVE? Chen Cheng-liang said that introducing the strictest rules for workers and expecting employers to relax them does not prevent violations of workers’ rights

  • By Sean Lin / Staff reporter
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  The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) proposed amendment to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) would set back workers’ rights by “100 years,” Taiwan Higher Education Union secretary-general Chen Cheng-liang (陳政亮) said at a legislative hearing held by the party to gather public opinion on the proposed changes.

  The International Labour Organization in 1921 stipulated that workers should be given one day off every seven days and in 1924 set rest time between shifts at between 10 and 12 hours, he said.

  The DPP has proposed allowing employers to make their workers work 12 days in a row before giving them two days off and shortening the rest time between shifts to eight hours if business owners obtain the consent of workers during negotiations, he said.

  

  Taiwan Higher Education Union secretary-general Chen Cheng-liang speaks at a public hearing at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times

  Statistics compiled by the Ministry of Labor showed that 163 people died from overwork between 2011 and 2015, which averages out to one death every 11 days, Chen said.

  Rather than being progressive, the DPP’s plans would cause labor rights to regress to what they were about 100 years ago, which is a “joke,” he said.

  “Progressive my ass,” he said.

  He also unleashed a barrage of criticism against Premier William Lai (賴清德) and Minister of Labor Lin Mei-chu (林美珠).

  Chen said Lai lied by saying that the proposed amendment would not affect regulations governing the workweek, working hours, overtime pay and an overtime cap.

  Lin is unfit for her position, because she does not understand that labor regulations are set to prevent workers’ rights from being violated, and not by introducing the strictest rules for workers and expecting employers to relax them through negotiations with workers, Chen said.

  Yesterday’s hearing was merely a formality, as the DPP has set a timetable to clear the draft amendment through a committee review today, he added.

  Earlier yesterday, Hsiao Ming-jen (蕭明仁), honorary director-general of the Changhua-based Huo Li-Wang Business Syndicate (活力旺企業協會), sparked controversy when he said there are hardly any cases of death by overwork in the nation.

  “Even if there were, the workers most likely died from illnesses,” Hsiao said at the hearing.

  Hsiao, who is also head of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) largest fan club, said that he supports labor rights groups’ demand that seven national holidays be reinstated if the 40-hour workweek is reverted back to the 42-hour workweek.

  Reviving the nation’s economy should not be the sole responsibility of business owners, he said.

  Hsiao later issued a statement saying that he had been “misrepresented,” and that he has always stood by workers.

  He meant to say that some workers could have died from poor health, and that their deaths might not always be linked to overwork, the statement said.
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