The Taiwan Motor Transport Company Union (台灣汽車客運業產業工會) yesterday said it would sue the Directorate-General of Highways (DGH) if it shielded Taoyuan Bus Co for allegedly undermining a system to prevent overworking drivers.
The union alleged that the company had breached the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) in requiring drivers to evade a DGH monitoring system.
To monitor working hours, the agency requires drivers to insert a thumb drive into a system when they begin a shift, the union said.
The drive records their working hours and sends an alert to the agency whenever a driver exceeds their maximum hours, it said.
To evade this mechanism, Taoyuan Bus allegedly requires its drivers to carry two thumb drives, so that as long as they replace one with the other before it finishes recording their shifts, it can prevent alerts from being sent to the DGH, the union said.
Some drivers allegedly worked 17 hours per day for 15 days, the union said.
“Everybody knows how bus companies have been skirting work hour rules, but it seems that the DGH is not interested in investigating the infractions,” the union said.
“We have been informed that Taoyuan Bus has been receiving tip-offs about DGH’s unannounced inspections, which gives it time to make its drivers hide the second thumb drive,” it said.
The directorate must clarify whether it has been protecting Taoyuan Bus or whether the company has been deceiving the agency, or the union would file a lawsuit against the DGH, the union said.
The Taoyuan Office of Labor Inspection is about 500m from Taoyuan Bus, but has not meted out any punishments against the company since a complaint was filed nine days ago, the union said.
A 62-year-old driver who last week failed to stop at a red light and hit a woman had reportedly driven for nine hours straight, it said, calling on the government to crack down on overworking, which puts pedestrians in danger.
The agency said it has launched an investigation into the complaint that the bus company had made its drivers use two thumb drives during one shift, and it yesterday launched two inspections at Taoyuan Bus’ premises.
Not giving drivers enough rest between two workdays is punishable by a fine of NT$9,000 to NT$90,000 and could result in an employer’s operating license being suspended for one to three months or revoked, or having the license plates of all of its vehicles revoked, it said.
Other infractions such as not giving drivers at least one fixed day off in a workweek or overworking them would be punishable under the act, it said.
EVA Airways was ranked the eighth-best airline in the world for this year, the only Taiwanese carrier to make it into the top 25 Airline Excellence Awards this year, aviation reviews Web site AirlineRatings.com said on Wednesday. AirlineRatings.com has a seven-star rating system to evaluate more than 360 airlines around the world every year, EVA Airways said in a statement on Thursday. “We are delighted that efforts by the entire EVA staff have been recognized by Airline Ratings,” EVA Airways president Clay Sun (孫嘉明) said in the release. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company identified and adopted services and procedures that enhance and
Tropical storm Guchol is moving in a northeasterly direction off the east coast of the Philippines and will not hit Taiwan, but will impact local weather starting on Friday, the Central Weather Bureau said Thursday. The storm would bring a low-pressure system northward toward the vicinity of Taiwan, forecaster Chao Hung (趙竑) said. Northern Taiwan will see intermittent rain showers in the morning, and thunderstorms in the afternoon on Friday, he said, adding that rain would be heavier on the east coast and in the central-southern mountainous areas. Rainfall would continue into Saturday, and would spread throughout Taiwan proper, he
Exiled Chinese democracy advocate Wang Dan (王丹) yesterday denied an accusation by former Taiwanese political worker Lee Yuan-chun (李援軍) that Wang had sexually harassed him in a hotel room in New York nine years ago. There was a huge gap between Lee’s accusation and his own understanding and memory, Wang wrote on Facebook, adding it was hard for him to respond further regarding a “unilateral description” made by someone else. Wang made the remarks after his initial response on Facebook was met with criticism, with people saying he did not directly address the allegation. Lee on Friday wrote on Facebook that he
#METOO MOVEMENT: A woman who formerly worked at the TPP said that she was repeatedly harassed by a party deputy secretary last year and it was covered up Vice President and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman William Lai (賴清德) yesterday announced new party procedures for filing complaints and investigating reports of sexual misconduct in response to more accusations of negligence against the party in handling reports of sexual abuse. In what local media dubbed Taiwan’s #MeToo movement, more people went public yesterday with allegations about the DPP, other parties and local governments. Lai said he deeply regrets the situation and apologized to the victims, while also praising them for having the courage to come forward. “When facing bullying and violations in the workplace, it is most important to stand up to