Having camped outside the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) for eight days and been ignored by officials, more than 100 laid-off workers launched a wheelchair march yesterday, while some of the protesters remained at the council’s headquarters to continue with their hunger strike.
The laid-off workers started marching to the New Taipei City (新北市) District Court and are to continue to the Taoyuan District Court, where most of their cases are being handled.
“We want to show them that, even though these workers may not in the best physical condition, they do not fear lawsuits filed against them by the Council of Labor Affairs and they will fight until the end,” Taiwan International Workers’ Association secretary-general Chen Hsiu-lien (陳秀蓮) said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“It was the government’s fault that they did not make sure that these workers’ employers had prepared retirement funds for them, so the workers will not repay a penny of the money they received [from the council] 16 years ago,” he added.
In the 1990s, hundreds of workers lost their jobs when several factories closed, many of them owing several months’ back salaries. Unable to get their retirement payouts or salaries from their employers, the workers staged a series of demonstrations. Eventually the council proposed to give the laid-off workers retirement payments in the form of loans, and promised that it would ask their employers to repay the money.
However, the council last year began to file lawsuits against the workers, asking them to repay the loans because the council had failed to get their employers to repay the debt. This triggered a new wave of protests by the workers.
Photo: Lee Chung-hsien, Taipei Times
After an eight-day camp-in in front of the council, with some protesters on hunger strike, which received no response from officials, laid-off workers who were not on hunger strike and their supporters decided yesterday to start marching.
Fifty workers in wheelchairs were pushed along by 50 student volunteers, while other protesters followed behind them.
“[The workers] are just getting what they deserve and the CLA [at the time] promised that they would not have to repay the loans — there’s no doubt about it, because it was even broadcast on the news at the time,” said Kuo Hsun-yeh (郭璇燁), a senior student from National Taipei College of Business.
“It makes no sense that the council is breaking its promise now, and that’s why I have to come and give them my support,” he said.
Liu Yi-chun (柳毅群), a senior student from Tung Hai University’s Department of Social Work, said he and his classmates volunteered to push the wheelchairs because they think the government should not lie.
“About 40 of us left Taichung, where our school is, at 6am this morning by bus to show our support for the workers,” he said.
Before the march started, the protesters went to nearby temples to pray for help, and burned ghost money, asking the immortals to refer the “money” to CLA Minister Pan Shih-wei (潘世偉).
The marchers spent last night in Yingge District (鶯歌), New Taipei City (新北市). They plan to continue the march today to the Taoyuan District Court.
Meanwhile, the National Alliance for Workers of Closed-Off Factories rebutted a remark made by Pan in a radio interview that the laid-off workers have terminated their hunger strike and dispersed, after many of them accepted the council’s discounted repayment program.
A message on the alliance’s official Facebook page said that some protesters are still in front of the council continuing their hunger strike and they are not prepared to compromise.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
IDENTITY SHIFT: Asked to choose to identify as either Taiwanese or Chinese, 83.3 percent of respondents chose Taiwanese, while 8.4 percent chose Chinese An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese, 71.5 percent, think that Taiwan should compete in international competitions under the name “Taiwan,” a Taiwan Brain Trust survey published yesterday showed. Referring to Taiwan’s victory last month at the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12, the survey results showed that 89.1 percent of respondents said that Taiwan’s exceptional performance in sporting competitions furthers national unity. Only 18.8 percent of respondents supported Taiwanese teams’ continued use of the name “Chinese Taipei” in international sporting competitions, the survey showed. Among Taiwan’s leading political parties, the name “Team Taiwan” was supported by 91.1 percent of self-identified Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters,
RSS