The Executive Yuan yesterday said that there is “currently no need” to reinstate seven public holidays that were scrapped in 2016, following calls by labor groups for their restoration.
“The seven public holidays were abolished under the prerequisite that workers would have more weekly days off following first-phase amendments to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法),” Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka said in a statement, referring to amendments to the act passed in December 2016 that introduced a five-day workweek.
Cutting the holidays ensured that public and private-sector workers have the same number of holidays, she said.
There is “currently no need to discuss reinstating the seven public holidays” and “no need to reinstate them,” she added.
The Cabinet issued the statement after about 50 protesters from more than 20 labor groups and unions rallied outside its complex on Taipei’s Zhongxiao E Road demanding to know its plan for reinstating the holidays.
“We feel mistreated, because keeping the seven public holidays was a campaign pledge of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), but her administration cut them as soon as she took office,” Kaohsiung Petrochemical Industry Trade Union president Ho Cheng-chia (何政家) said.
The government should review its labor policies, not just because the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) suffered serious losses in the Nov. 24 nine-in-one elections, but out of care for workers’ rights, he said.
Compared with private-sector workers, public servants have more sick days and longer wedding and funeral leave, Taoyuan Confederation of Trade Unions president Chuang Fu-kai (莊福凱) said.
“If the government thinks they should be treated the same, then [private-sector] workers should have more of those days too. If not, they should have their seven public holidays back,” he said.
Labor groups have protested the abolishment of the public holidays since June 2016, when the Cabinet submitted to the Legislative Yuan draft amendments to the act that would increase workers’ weekly days off, but reduce public holidays from 19 to 12.
The subject regained public attention on Tuesday last week, when Premier William Lai (賴清德) said at a question-and-answer session that he would reconsider reinstating the holidays.
Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) on Thursday last week said that her ministry would discuss the matter with the Ministry of the Interior.
Before rallying outside the Executive Yuan yesterday, labor groups protested outside the Ministry of the Interior’s nearby complex, demanding that it amend regulations on public holidays or draft new legislation to restore the seven days.
“If the government refuses to offer a clear time frame to discuss the restoration of the seven public holidays or to hold public hearings on the issue, the DPP will again be defeated in the next elections,” Taoyuan Confederation of Trade Unions secretary-general Ye Ching-yu (葉瑾瑜) said.
The scrapped holidays are Youth Day, Teachers’ Day, Retrocession Day, Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) birthday, Sun Yat-sen’s (孫逸仙) birthday, Constitution Day and the day following New Year’s Day.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS