Labor rights campaigners yesterday morning clashed with police while attempting to storm the Legislative Yuan in protest of amendments to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法 ) proposed by the government.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has been leading efforts to amend the law a second time, after last year passing amendments that proved controversial with employers and workers alike.
The legislature’s Economic Committee and Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee yesterday were to review sections of the amendments that would affect employees’ weekly work schedules.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
However, New Power Party Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) filibustered the proceedings with a long speech and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers put additional speeches on the agenda.
Close to 100 protestors showed up at the Legislative Yuan to march around its premises, chanting: “Say no to the bad Labor Standards Act amendments; give back our seven holidays.”
The protest was organized by the National Federation of Education Unions, as well as other groups.
When the demonstration reached the Legislative Yuan’s main gate on Qingdao E Road, several protesters tried to jump over the wall and enter the building, leading to scuffles with the police. Eggs were thrown at the officers, who used nets for overhead protection and called in reinforcements.
Although the clash died down, protesters tried to return to the Legislative Yuan at about 12:30pm, just as the lawmakers were reconvening for the afternoon session. As the protesters were now marching against traffic, the police blocked their progress, triggering another shoving match on Zhongshan S Road.
Unable to push past the police line, the protesters made a detour through Linsen N Road back to their original staging point by the Legislative Yuan, where they demanded that DPP lawmakers vote against the party line by chanting their names.
Early yesterday morning, labor activists splashed or sprayed paint on the Executive Yuan, President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) official residence, the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, police said.
Five protestors were arrested and the authorities are seeking to press charges under the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) and for littering, the Taipei Police Department’s Zhongzheng Second Precinct said in a statement.
About a dozen members of Labor Struggle, a coalition of labor unions and student groups, including a man surnamed Lin (林) and a man surnamed Hsieh (謝), used various vehicles to splash paint on government offices at about 1:57am, the police said.
Police at watch stations immediately called for backup and quick reaction teams arrested five people, who remained in custody at press time last night.
The protesters left red paint on the building and wrote “blood and sweat” on the asphalt.
In a statement, Labor Struggle said the organization is opposed to the DPP’s “bullying tactics” of rolling back workers’ right to rest and it takes responsibility for the act.
Presidential Office spokesman Sidney Lin (林鶴明) said that in a democratic nation, the public has the right to express dissent, but the office hopes that discussions can contribute to rational public discourse for the common good.
“Radicalizing and confrontational speech cause discussions on public policy to lose focus and are counterproductive,” he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and