The National Federation of Teachers’ Unions presented six recommendations to new Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) during a news conference today.
Federation president Hou Chun-liang (侯俊良) said the minister should protect workers’ rights, conduct a thorough investigation into a recent workplace suicide allegedly caused by bullying and designate Labor Day on May 1 as a national holiday.
Labor Day is a global holiday that symbolizes labor solidarity, but it is applied inconsistently in Taiwan depending on employers, Hou said.
Photo: Rachel Lin, Taipei Times
The minister should seek to have a nationwide Labor Day holiday, he said.
Hou also called on Hung to conduct a proper investigation into the recent incident, in which a ministry employee took his own life at his workplace due to alleged bullying from his superior.
The incident led to the resignation of former minister of labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊).
This is part of a systemic problem, and a transparent investigation is necessary to improve employee morale and penalize those who abuse their authority, Hou said.
The federation also called for complaint channels to be improved, including an increase in penalties.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法) does not explicitly address workplace bullying, nor does it cover civil servants, Hou said.
Taiwan should learn from South Korea’s anti-bullying laws, which formalize the complaint process and provide appeal methods beyond the initial review, he added.
Although the Democratic Progressive Party supported civil servants’ right to form unions while serving as the opposition party, it has failed to codify that support while in power, federation publicity director Lo Te-shui (羅德水) said.
Police, firefighters and other civil servants are not allowed to organize unions, and teachers’ unions face strict regulations on collective bargaining, Lo added.
The Examination Yuan proposed an amendment to the Civil Servant Association Act (公務人員協會法) in July, which would allow for specialized unions and expand existing unions’ ability to negotiate, but the Legislative Yuan must deliberate on the issue, Examination Yuan president nominee Chou Hung-hsien (周弘憲) said today.
Lo also called for more effective fund management to handle the upcoming NT$12 trillion (US$370 billion) deficit in the Labor Insurance Fund.
The ministry should modernize parental leave policies to mitigate the low birthrate crisis, Lo added.
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