In a bid to address potential labor disputes and minimize the effects of strikes, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday met with representatives from the Chunghwa Postal Workers’ Union, the Chunghwa Telecom Workers’ Union, the Taiwan Railway Labor Union, the Taiwan Highway Workers’ Union, the Taoyuan International Airport Corporation Trade Union, the Taiwan International Ports Corporation Enterprise Trade Union, the EVA Air Union, the Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions and the Chinese Federation of Labor.
Before the meeting, Lin told reporters that a ministry task force had visited members of the unions in light of the effect that strikes have had on society.
The task force is seeking to understand issues that concern unions and adopt a preventive approach to resolve labor disputes, Lin said.
Photo: Chen Yi-chia, Taipei Times
Representatives are encouraged to speak up and the ministry is to compile their statements for consideration, he said.
“While employees are a company’s most important assets, there must also be a balance between employees’ interests and the rights of people using transportation services,” he said.
Unions have the right to organize strikes, but the government needs to have a mechanism so that, for example, people with flight tickets would not be forced to change their travel plans because of changes or cancelations.
Labor legislation has a mechanism for giving notice of a strike, but that process can take one to two years, he said, adding that union representatives should work to minimize uncertainty among ticket holders and workers in the face of impending strike action.
“We hope to protect workers’ rights while minimizing the impact on society in general,” he said.
EVA Air Corp flight attendants are negotiating with the airline’s management and have said they would not exclude the possibility of a strike if the airline’s offers do not meet their expectations.
EVA Air Union representative Lin Yu-chia (林昱嘉) said that the ministry should withdraw its support for the proposed policy of requiring unions to give notice of labor action, which would harm workers’ rights.
Such a policy was not needed when China Airlines’ (CAL) flight attendants went on strike in 2016, Lin Yu-chia said.
The EVA Air Union has four major requests, she said.
The gap between its workers’ salaries and those at CAL should be smaller and the government should ask EVA to adjust flight schedules that lead to flight attendants being overworked, she said.
CAL was found to have overworked its employees 120 times last year, she said.
EVA’s management also inappropriately interviewed applicants for flight attendant positions, Lin Yu-chia said, adding that employees should be allowed to attend disciplinary meetings to ensure transparency.
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