Labor rights activists protested yesterday outside the Council of Labor Affairs against stagnant salaries and the rising cost of living, announcing that a larger rally is planned for Tuesday, which is Labor Day.
The protesters performed a skit in which a hapless citizen was shot in the heart by black-and-white arrows, each representing a retail item the price of which has increased, and had a gas pump nozzle aimed at his head.
The skit was intended to highlight the extent to which the rising prices are making it difficult for many to get by or provide for their families.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Labor Rights Association head Luo Mei-wen (羅美文) said that labor groups are asking for a wage increase, gender equality in wages and an end to the practice of using day laborers and contract workers.
They also want more workplace inspections carried out by the government, more social housing, higher taxes on the rich and more public daycare centers.
In addition, the groups called on the government to work harder to prevent the broadly defined “system of job responsibility” being abused by employers.
Under the system, employees are assigned tasks to complete regardless of how long they take, and that approach is widely considered to be responsible for some of the alleged deaths from overwork.
The groups also urged the government to abolish Article 84-1 of the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), which stipulates that once an employer has reach an agreement with employee and reported said agreement to the government supervisory agency, the employer is exempt from Articles 30, 32, 36, 37 and 49 of the act.
Those articles regulate the maximum number of working hours, the minimum number of weekly days off and the maximum overtime for employees, as well as stipulating additional safety measures that should be provided to protect female staff working night shifts between 10pm and 6am.
More than 1,000 workers will take to the streets on Tuesday in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District (中正), the activists said, adding that the march would be preceded two days earlier by a protest on Sunday that will take place in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Banciao District (板橋).
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man
RSS