The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus yesterday called on the government to make International Workers’ Day a national holiday for public-sector workers.
Currently, only people covered by the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) are entitled to a day off on Workers’ Day. New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) of the KMT during a city council meeting on Friday said the holiday should apply to all workers in the nation.
KMT caucus whip William Tseng (曾銘宗) yesterday told a news conference that the caucus was behind Hou’s proposal.
Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Taipei Times
“Holidays should not apply differently to different people, as this can cause problems,” Tseng said.
“For example, lawmakers are required to work on May 1, but their assistants, who are covered by the Labor Standards Act, take the day off. Also, many public servants are parents, but kindergartens are closed for the day, leaving those parents in a bind,” Tseng said.
KMT Legislator Lee Te-wei (李德維) said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and her administration should address the issue of workers who are exempted from public holidays, such as temporary workers and those in the “gig economy.”
“Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) has said he wants to create a ‘warm and resilient’ Taiwan, so his Cabinet should do something to protect the interests of those workers,” he said.
Tseng also called on the Tsai administration to improve the labor insurance system’s finances, saying the system might go bankrupt in 2028, with potential liabilities exceeding NT$11 trillion (US$357.8 billion).
“There is also the issue of low wages, which affects 11 million workers. Tsai said in 2017 that she would address the problem,” he said.
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said that average annual work hours in Taiwan are the fourth-highest in the world, despite Tsai having said that she has a “soft spot in her heart” for workers’ rights.
“Taiwan has become an island of overwork and there has been negative growth in real wages,” lai said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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