Thousands of people from workers’ unions and labor groups took to the streets in Taipei yesterday, demanding that the government protect workers’ rights.
Initiated by the National Federation of Independent Trade Unions (NAFITU), workers organized by more than a dozen groups from across the country arrived at Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) at noon yesterday and headed out to the streets holding signs bearing their demands, such as “basic guarantees,” “uncut payment” and “against the free-trade island [policy] and worsening labor conditions.”
The NAFITU said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had spoken about the government’s plan for leading the nation to become a “free-trade island,” increasing collaboration between industry and schools and reforming the labor insurance annuity scheme in his speech on New Year’s Day.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
However, these policies should not be achieved by sacrificing the working conditions in Taiwan — such as reforming labor insurance by cutting the basic payments for retired workers, or cooperating with the business sector to turn students into cheap labor for companies, it said, adding that the march aimed to make it clear to the president that workers will not accept reforms that only benefit corporations.
NAFITU president Chu Wei-li (朱維立) said the protest appealed for five demands: not cutting the labor insurance annuity payment, basic guarantees for retirement, government budget appropriation to supplement the Labor Insurance Fund if it fails to provide basic guaranteed payments, not loosening labor regulations for a free economic demonstration zone and amending Article 28 of the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法).
The groups said that the minimum monthly retirement payment from the labor insurance annuity is currently only NT$5,183 after working for 15 years and NT$8,733 after working for 30 years, and an average worker receives only about NT$13,000 — all lower than the government’s data from last year, which showed the average living expenses in Taiwan total about NT$18,465 a month.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
They urged the government not to cut the labor insurance annuity payment, which is already not enough to maintain average living standards, and said it should guarantee a basic living by supplementing the payment with government funding or from taxes imposed on employers and company owners.
Following the march, the protesters converged in front of the Presidential Office on Ketagalan Boulevard, where the event organizers staged a skit and delivered speeches. The demonstration ended peacefully after the protesters, having been given two warnings by the police that they were violating the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), threw tomatoes and eggs toward the Presidential Office, from which they were separated by barricades and police.
“We have not seen the government announce policies protecting workers’ rights, nor any sincerity toward workers,” Taoyuan International Airport Services Union standing director Yang Shao-yung (楊少庸) said, adding that despite the large number of protesters, the government failed to even send out an official to meet with them.
“Today we used only tomatoes to express our anger and dissatisfaction. Further demonstrations on larger scales may be held in the future,” he said.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS