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).
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to