Labor union representatives yesterday called on the government to distribute COVID-19 relief funds directly to workers.
They asked the Ministry of Labor to take charge of the process, and not to go through industry associations or trade unions, as done in the past.
The government has raised the nationwide COVID-19 alert to level 3, which has led to commercial districts seeing few customers even on weekends.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Shops and vendors have witnessed a steep drop in business, while many workers have seen their salaries reduced, which has affected their livelihoods, New Taipei Confederation of Trade Unions chairman Hung Ching-fu (洪清福) told an online briefing.
Hung said that while it is good to know that the government is working on economic relief packages and allocating more funds for such budgets, the ministry should take full charge of the process and disburse the relief funds directly to workers.
Since last year, the restrictions caused by the pandemic have affected large swathes of the nation’s labor force, including people working in airlines and the tourism sector, as well as those furloughed due to government orders to shut down certain businesses, Taoyuan Confederation of Trade Unions chairwoman Chu Mei-hsueh (朱梅雪) said.
“Most of the affected people are part-time employees working at restaurants and retailers, many of whom are now out of work. Overall, the biggest impact has been on the service, restaurant and hospitality sectors, as well as those catering to domestic consumption,” she added.
“However, we see that the government’s proposed economic relief packages are mostly the same as last year’s — they have to go through companies and bosses. Workers will again end up not receiving relief funds, because many employers would not report furloughed workers to the government when ordered to close for business,” she said.
Due to the outbreak this year, the nation’s small-capital businesses, including family-operated eateries, restaurants and service-providing shops, are more prone to shutting down or even entirely terminating their operations, Chu said.
They do not have big incentives to apply for employee wage subsidies, and in other cases, they are excluded from such programs, because the conditions and requirements are too high.
“We are seeing infections within communities, so the greatest impact has been on small businesses. When the pandemic is over, the employers will restart their businesses. They will not necessarily retain their original employees, but instead hire new workers,” Chu added.
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