Lawmakers and labor rights advocates in Taipei yesterday called for legislation to ensure that students are educated about labor-related topics before they enter the workplace.
Such education would prevent students from being exploited in internships or cooperative education placements, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said.
Universities should include courses on labor issues as part of the required curriculum, while employers should also receive mandatory labor-related education taught by professionals, she said.
Taiwan is known for many things, such as its National Health Insurance program and its success in containing COVID-19, DPP Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) said.
However, issues such as long working hours, low pay and other work-related problems also exist, he said.
Children should be taught about labor rights and related topics from a young age, he said.
Elementary students in Germany “know what a union is and know how to strike to gain the rights they deserve,” Liu said.
People cannot escape the employer-employee relationship in a capitalist market, he said.
Before legislation is introduced, the ministry could act by requiring employers to attend classes so that they cannot claim ignorance of labor laws when they are penalized for contravening them, Confederation of Taipei Trade Unions vice president Chiu I-kan (邱奕淦) said.
If a bill on labor-related education can be passed in the current legislative term, it would be the “most important [piece of] labor legislation” to be passed during the term, Youth Labor Union 95 representative Cheng Chung-jui (鄭中睿) said.
Many workers are not aware when their legal rights have been breached or, when contraventions occur, they do not know where to seek help, Taiwan Labour Front director of education Yang Shu-wei (楊書瑋) said.
Labor-related education is not just for people to obtain knowledge, it also establishes and communicates social values, he said.
The target audience for labor-related education should be expanded, and a dedicated group should be responsible for researching labor-related education policy and teaching materials, Yang said.
Legislation for labor-related education could help prevent labor disputes, Taipei Doctors’ Union representative Liao Yu-wen (廖郁雯) said.
Many labor disputes originate because employers and employees lack understanding of labor laws, she said.
Giving students correct information while they are still at school would lower the number of labor disputes and the costs involved, she added.
Responsibility should not just fall on the Ministry of Education, Taiwan Alliance for Advancement of Youth Rights and Welfare general secretary Yeh Ta-hua (葉大華) said, adding that the Ministry of Labor should also be included in the efforts.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
RSS