The National Alliance for Workers of Closed Factories yesterday vowed to continue fighting for the interests and dignity of workers by staging a series of protests this year that will begin with a rally at Taipei Railway Station today.
Today’s protest is scheduled to begin at 3pm and marks the one-year anniversary of a demonstration the group staged last year at the station that made headlines across the nation.
The organization was formed by former employees of several large factories who either retired or were laid off 16 years ago without receiving any severance or retirement pay after their workplaces were shut down.
To assist these workers, the government agreed to give them loans that had to be repaid only after they had found new jobs. However, the workers then started receiving payment due notices from the Council of Labor Affairs asking them to pay back the loans, including interest and late fees.
The notices sparked a series of protests, with labor rights advocates arguing that the government should not ask the former employees to repay the loans because the council was party to blame for failing to ensure that the employers had sufficient funds for their staff’s retirement payouts.
The council also neglected to seek compensation from the employers after they shut down their factories, the alliance said.
The loans that the laid-off workers received should be considered as part of a “national compensatory fund” to repair the damage done by the government’s administrative negligence, the rights advocates added.
The plight of the alliance members came into the national spotlight on Feb. 5 last year when nearly 100 workers paralyzed the Taiwan Railways Administration system by jumping off the platforms and laying on the tracks at Taipei Railway Station.
“It [the protest] let the public see the workers’ desperation and persecution at the hands of the government, but it did not serve as a wake-up call for the government. Tragic things continue to happen and people without means are still being treated unfairly, as can be seen in incidents ranging from the forced demolition of civilians’ houses in Dapu [(大埔), Miaoli County], to the truck driver who rammed his truck through the entrance of Presidential Office Building,” the alliance said on Facebook.
“As the new year begins, we have no other choice but to continue fighting. We will go back to Taipei Railway Station and pray that the protests will proceed smoothly and everyone will eventually live in peace,” it said.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS