A greater number of companies are imposing furloughs on their workers than the government’s official figure, a high-tech workers’ union said yesterday as it petitioned labor officials to address the issue.
Urging workers to join unions, the Trade Union of Electrical, Electronic and Information Workers in Taiwan sent a list of 63 companies it said have imposed unpaid leave on their workers to Huang Wei-chen (黃維琛), section chief of the Council of Labor Affairs’ (CLA) department of working conditions.
Union secretary-general Lin Ming-che (林名哲) said that according to its most recent data, a total of 33,000 employees from 63 enterprises have been put on unpaid leave.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The number is in contrast to the council’s official figure of 2,801 people from 12 enterprises, Lin said.
Lin said the gap is more a result of employers trying to cover up the real number than workers providing false accounts, adding that it is the government’s responsibility to check and confirm the figures.
The union called on employees to form or join trade unions to gain more of an equal footing in negotiations with management. It also urged the council to set up and promote a special hotline for workers to report any irregularities regarding their employers.
In response, Huang said the council would ask local labor authorities to check the enterprises on the list to confirm if leave measures have been implemented and it would publish the finalized results on Nov. 16.
If the enterprises are confirmed to have illegally placed workers on furlough, they would face a maximum fine of NT$300,000 (US$9,960), while serious offenders would be named and shamed, Huang said.
Under current regulations, companies can only implement unpaid leave in the case of financial losses, if they have gained the consent of workers following negotiations between employees and employers, and if workers’ monthly incomes are still no less than the national minimum wage of NT$17,880.
As to the gap between the union’s figures and the official numbers, Huang attributed the difference to the time the government needs to confirm the accuracy of the information.
He said the council would continue to monitor the situation and would ask local authorities to promptly investigate reports of workers being placed on unpaid leave from the media, trade unions and the employee complaint hotline.
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
The government would cancel kendo practitioner Su Yu-cheng’s (蘇郁程) nationality if he is confirmed to have represented China in the World Kendo Championships in Milan, Italy, last week, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. “We have consulted the Sports Administration and were told that athletes participating in the championships must have the nationality of the country that they represent. They must also present their passports as proof,” council spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a weekly news conference. “If Su indeed represented China in the championships, we suspect that he has obtained Chinese nationality.” The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the
FATAL ILLNESS: Untreated symptoms can rapidly worsen to complications such as high fever, seizures and loss of consciousness, and can be life-threatening, a doctor said Hospitals have been reporting dozens of people with heat-related illnesses every day over the past week, given continuous high daytime temperatures, so recognizing the early signs of heatstroke is crucial in preventing serious complications, a Taipei City Hospital emergency physician said. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a heat alert for 19 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures in New Taipei City, Miaoli County and Pingtung County likely to exceed 38°C, and temperatures in 12 cities and counties likely to exceed 36°C for three days straight. More than a dozen people were taken to hospitals for heat-related illnesses every day from