A coalition of unions yesterday protested outside the Ministry of Labor in Taipei to demand that it include industrial and trade union members in labor inspections.
The protest was organized by a dozen unions, including the Taiwan Higher Education Union, the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) Labor Union and the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union.
At present, before conducting labor inspections at a company, authorities must invite members of the company’s union to take part, but not those in industrial and trade unions, the groups said in a statement.
Photo: CNA
Only 58,000 Taiwanese are members of their companies’ unions, which account for just 5.4 percent of the nation’s workers, they said.
“However, industrial and trade unions have a total of 2.8 million members. If only company union members are allowed to participate in labor inspections, how would the government ensure that the rights of those 2.8 million workers are protected,” the statement said.
Industrial or trade union members have occasionally been allowed to take part in such inspections and have helped uncover breaches of labor law, they said.
“The ministry should require authorities to invite industrial and labor union representatives to participate in inspections. Currently, less than 6 percent of companies in Taiwan have their own unions. Only by improving the participation of industrial and trade unions in labor inspections can the government effectively prevent tragedies in workplaces,” they said.
The unions also demanded that the authorities issue invitations to union representatives at least seven days in advance to ensure that they could attend.
“There have been many cases where union representatives were unable to go because they were given short notice,” the statement said.
However, Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) said current regulations can handle the problem.
Article 22 of the Labor Inspection Act (勞動檢查法) stipulates that labor inspectors should invite company union representatives to join inspections, but in situations where it is necessary to have industrial or trade union representatives present, the latter can also be invited, as stipulated by Article 23, she said.
Article 23 also states that when necessary, a labor inspector can invite academics, experts, doctors, officials from the regulatory authority of the company under inspection, as well as representatives from related groups to participate in an inspection after reporting to the labor inspection agency and obtaining approval, she said.
The company being inspected cannot refuse, she said.
The ministry said in a statement that it would encourage local governments to use the mechanism in the law more often to make inspections more effective.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) yesterday authorized the execution of convicted murderer Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), the first death row prisoner to be put to death since President William Lai (賴清德) took office. Huang was to be executed via a firing squad yesterday evening, which would leave Taiwan with 36 convicts on death row. Huang on Oct. 1, 2013, broke into his ex-girlfriend Wang Ping-chih’s (王品智) residence in New Taipei City, where he raped and murdered Wang. He also killed Wang’s mother. Huang was bitter over the breakup and her accusation that he had stolen NT$200,000 (US$6,074) from her bank account, prosecutors said
RSS