The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus unveiled draft legislation today aimed at protecting delivery workers’ rights, including guaranteed pay and minimum wage, the right to go offline and restrictions on platforms arbitrarily terminating contracts.
The DPP held a news conference at the Legislative Yuan to announce the draft law, inviting National Delivery Industrial Union chair Chen Yu-an (陳昱安) and spokesperson Su Po-hao (蘇柏豪), as well as Taipei Online Delivery Platform Workers’ Union chair Cheng Li-chia (鄭力嘉) to participate.
DPP policy committee executive director Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said the draft bill has 25 articles and highlights 10 key provisions.
Photo: CNA
Wu said this includes guarantees for delivery fees, minimum wage and workers’ right to go offline, as well as restrictions on platforms arbitrarily terminating contracts and the establishment of complaint channels.
Platforms would be responsible for workers’ occupational hazard insurance premiums and for record-keeping, to which the government would have access, she said.
The legislation would also standardize contracts among platforms, delivery workers, consumers and merchants and protect both consumers’ and delivery workers’ personal data, she added.
DPP caucus secretary-general Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜) said that standardized contracts between platforms, workers, consumers and merchants are essential to ensure that all parties are protected and help resolve disputes.
The legislation must also protect consumers’ and workers’ personal data, Chen said.
DPP Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) said that the draft legislation overcomes the previous dilemma in which delivery workers were forced to be classified either as employees or contractors, aiming to ensure that delivery work remains both flexible and safe.
Cheng said that the delivery industry has been in Taiwan for almost 10 years, and although countless meetings have been held, the industry still lacks a trustworthy and auditable system.
The DPP caucus’ draft legislation is the most comprehensive, standing out for its use of Ministry of Transportation delivery rates alongside minimum wage to guarantee fare compensation for delivery workers, Cheng said.
Su highlighted that while the minimum wage has increased annually, delivery workers’ wages have been decreasing.
Opposition parties should work with the ruling party on this proposed legislation to eliminate this unjust situation, Su said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
Taiwan next year plans to launch its first nationwide census on elderly people living independently to identify the estimated 700,000 seniors to strengthen community-based healthcare and long-term care services, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said on the sidelines of a healthcare seminar that the nation’s rapidly aging population and declining birthrate have made the issue of elderly people living alone increasingly pressing. The survey, to be jointly conducted by the MOHW and the Ministry of the Interior, aims to establish baseline data and better allocate care resources, he
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