More than 3,000 people participated in a march hosted by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday in Taipei supporting labor rights and opposing workplace bullying.
During the march, which started in front of the Ministry of Labor building and ended on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building, TPP lawmakers and party secretary-general Chou Yu-hsiu (周榆修) took turns saying the party supports anti-bullying legislation, the establishment of unions for police and firefighters, and has enacted laws to protect whistleblowers.
They also invited participants to write a letter and insert it into a box labelled “charity,” and said that they hoped the president would be charitable and heed workers’ demands for justice and protection.
Photo: CNA
Although former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said she had a soft spot for workers, she had removed seven national holidays, TPP caucus whip Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said, adding that President William Lai (賴清德), who implemented that policy as then-premier, had not protected the workers, and now a life has been lost due to bullying during his presidency.
Huang was referring to the death of a 39-year-old ministry employee surnamed Wu (吳), who was found dead at the Executive Yuan’s Sinjhuang Joint Office Tower in New Taipei City on Nov. 4. Wu had allegedly taken his own life after being bullied by his supervisor.
TPP Legislator Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) said Lai and Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) failed to deliver on their promise of justice.
“The TPP will wait no longer,” Chang said, adding that the party would propose anti-bullying legislation over the next week.
The proposed legislation would include clauses requiring that more than half of any review committee for bullying incidents be comprised of non-departmental staff or third-party members, he said.
Citing a report by the legislature’s Budget Center, National Civil Servant Association president Kao Shih-nan (高誓男) said that last year, 11 public servants committed suicide and 1,300 left their jobs, which were 120 percent and 122 percent higher than figures in 2022.
Kao attributed the increase in suicides and quitting to the inequality between public servants and their superiors, antiquated laws, and outdated methods of management.
He also urged the government to enact legislation to end bullying, improve labor safety laws, allow public servants to unionize, improve work hours and overtime systems, and change retirement laws.
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