The Taiwan Railway Labor Union on Tuesday said it would go on strike during the Mid-Autumn Festival in September if the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) fails to address low wages and guarantee that there will be no pay cuts after a planned restructuring.
The TRA must guarantee its employees reasonable salaries and benefits, to which they are entitled, before it is transformed into a state-run corporation, the union said.
The union last month asked for a 50 percent wage hike for all TRA workers, after the Legislative Yuan in May passed a bill to transform the TRA into a state-run corporation by 2024.
Photo: CNA
The plan aims to address public calls to reform the debt-ridden agency following two deadly train crashes in 2018 and last year.
The union is negotiating with the TRA to finalize 16 subsidiary regulations in the bill detailing the treatment of employees.
It has also called on the agency to provide a breakdown of a planned NT$80 billion (US$2.68 billion) capital injection for the proposed corporation.
The TRA has not explained how the money would be used, the union said, adding that it is concerned that its members’ benefits would not be guaranteed.
The union has urged the TRA to stipulate in the subsidiary regulations that it would not reduce the salaries of its employees, regardless of whether the planned corporation’s responsibilities affect its profits.
Asked about the union’s statement on the sidelines of a news conference in Taipei, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said “the agency’s revenue is about NT$24 billion per year, while its personnel costs are approximately NT$16 billion per year. The entire revenue would be used to cover personnel costs if every employee was given a 50 percent raise. It would be impossible.”
A company can be profitable only if it can keep personnel expenses to under 50 percent of total operating costs, he said.
However, Wang said that he supports raising the salaries of entry-level workers at the TRA, which he said are excessively low.
“Any big salary increase should be discussed after the railway corporation generates profit, or the corporation would accumulate a huge amount of debt in its initial phase. This is not the purpose of corporatizing the railway agency,” he said.
TRA has not responded to the union’s statement.
The union went on a strike on May 1, although the labor action caused less disruption to the TRA’s services than had been expected.
Additional reporting by Shelley Shan
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by