Labor activists voiced concern yesterday that president-elect Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policies for reviving the economy could rely too heavily on large corporations and that the rights of blue-collar workers may be sacrificed.
“Ma promised to improve the economy and make life easier — we workers deserve a better life too!” Labor Party secretary-general Tang Shu (唐曙) told a crowd of around 100 people from various labor unions who gathered outside the Legislative Yuan.
“It makes us very worried, when we look at Ma’s economic platform,” Tang said. “It seems that Ma is aiming to make life better for corporations but not for workers.”
PHOTO: CNA
One of Ma’s “i-Taiwan 12 projects” to boost domestic consumption through infrastructure — turning Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport into an “air city” — was the focus of particular criticism.
The proposal would make the airport a special administrative zone and surrounding areas would be managed by an independent administration run by a board of directors.
The board would be authorized to plan the special zone’s development, manage the airport facilities — which are now under the jurisdiction of the Civil Aeronautics Administration — and invest in transportation and other industries.
Businesses operating in the zone would enjoy special tax breaks.
In addition to the airport, Ma also plans to establish a free-trade port nearby as part of the project.
Labor Rights Association executive director Wang Chuan-ping (王娟萍) said the project may sound ambitious, but it is a potential nightmare as far as workers rights are concerned.
Proposed legislation governing the special administrative zone would exempt it from Labor Standard Law (勞動基準法) regulations on the employment and treatment of foreign workers.
“It not only means that these [foreign] workers will have less protection [of rights], it also means that local workers will be less competitive,” Wang said.
The activists are also concerned that outsourcing could increase under Ma’s platform to boost economic links with China.
“We don’t mind developing cross-strait economic and trade relations, but workers rights should be the top consideration during the decision-making process,” Tang said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS