The Executive Yuan yesterday proposed an amendment to the Civil Servant Association Act (公務人員協會法) to safeguard firefighters’ rights, after a blaze and subsequent explosions at Launch Technologies Co’s plant at Pingtung Technology Industrial Park on Friday last week killed four firefighters and five civilians, and injured more than 100 people.
The Cabinet made the statement in response to the call from the National Association for Firefighters’ Rights and other civic groups to allow firefighters to form unions.
They reiterated their appeal at a protest at the Executive Yuan yesterday morning and demanded to have their voices heard in the Cabinet meeting.
Photo courtesy of the Changhua County Fire Bureau
Association member Huang Sheng (黃升) said the Executive Yuan’s proposed amendment to the act did not consider input from firefighters, nor can it protect their rights to form a union, engage in collective bargaining and dispute labor practices.
They should be allowed to form a union based on the Labor Union Act (工會法), Huang said.
Association secretary-general Chen Yen-kai (陳彥凱) said that the government should amend the Fire Services Act (消防法) to impose punishments on factory managers whose failure to assist in fire rescue operations have led to the death and injuries of firefighters.
“An amendment to the Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substance Act (毒性及關注化學物質管理法) should also be proposed so that criminal punishment can be issued to business owners who fail to manufacture and store chemical substances based on regulations,” Chen said.
“The Executive Yuan should also propose an amendment to the Public Servants’ Safety and Health Protection Act (公務人員安全及衛生防護辦法) to protect the safety of firefighters,” Chen said.
Cabinet spokesman Lin Tzu-luen (林子倫) said that firefighters are civil servants, and changes to the system should be discussed based on how they carry out their duties.
The fastest way to reinforce their rights to form a workers’ organization and engage in collective bargaining is to propose an amendment to the Civil Servant Association Act, Lin said.
“Considering the danger and urgency of firefighters’ work and uncertainty of disaster zones, we think the most appropriate thing to do is to amend the Fire Services Act,” he said, adding that an occupational safety and health mechanism for firefighters would be established to protect firefighters.
“We have reached a consensus with the Examination Yuan to complete the amendment to the Civil Servant Association Act in one month and to have the amendment deliberated at the Legislative Yuan,” Lin said.
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