A system of flexible working hours, as proposed by a group of business leaders to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) earlier this week, would have a negative impact on workers’ lives, several labor groups said yesterday.
Their remark was a response to a suggestion to Ma by the business community that authorities scrap the current -working-hour cap of 84 hours over two weeks and adopt a “flexitime” system.
The business leaders said that this would give employers more flexibility in arranging human resources and working hours based on market demand.
However, if such a system was adopted, employees might have to work unpredictable schedules and long hours whenever the workload was heavy, the labor groups — the Taiwan Labor Front, the Taiwan Women’s Link and the Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions (TCTU) — said at a joint press conference in Taipei.
Moreover, a flexitime system would give employers a reason not to pay workers overtime, TCTU secretary-general Hsieh Chuang-chih (謝創智) said. He added that long hours would increase the likelihood of accidents, as well as possibly damage family relationships.
In defense of their proposal, the business leaders said that flexitime is widely used in Germany.
However, Hsieh rebutted the point, saying that Germany has many different systems and if Taiwan wanted to learn from the European nation then it should learn about the whole package.
Hsieh added that Germany has a powerful labor union, unlike Taiwan, where labor--management relations tend to benefit employers.
The proposed system would have the greatest impact on female workers, said Tsai Wan-fen (蔡宛芬), secretary-general of the Taiwan Women’s Link. Such a situation with women working longer hours would only make Taiwan’s low birthrate an even more difficult issue to resolve, she said.
Son Yu-lian (孫友聯), head of the Taiwan Labor Front, urged the government to listen to workers’ voices and not just those in the business community.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS