The government is considering further changes to the Civil Servant Association Act (公務人員協會法) to facilitate freedom of association for firefighters’ groups, Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Personnel Division Director-General Su Chun-jung (蘇俊榮) said yesterday.
Legislators across party lines asked the agency about a lack of firefighters, government support for the formation of firefighters’ unions and firefighter work schedules during a review of the agency’s annual status report and its fiscal 2024 budget.
The agency would amend the act to relax regulations, including rules on the right of assembly, and submit it to the Executive Yuan this week, Su said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The legislative process to grant direct approval for groups to form unions is long and arduous, but the amendment would address most of the demands of firefighters’ rights groups, he said.
Should the measures prove insufficient, the government would seek to build a consensus about forming unions, he said.
The government is reviewing the special examinations for firefighters to determine whether they are affecting enrollment rates, he said, but added that 600 new firefighters have joined annually since 2018.
Personnel shortages are due to the 12-to-22-month training period firefighters must undergo after their exams, Su said, adding that assignment to local firefighting departments can also take some time.
The personnel shortages are the main reason that local governments are unable to fully implement labor policies for firefighters and information on the “work one, rest one” scheme would be forwarded to the Legislative Yuan this week, he said.
The Directorate-General of Personnel Administration would speak with the Ministry of the Interior regarding the possibility of removing the work-hour ceiling for firefighters, and speak with the National Police Agency and National Fire Agency on the possibly of implementing a whistle-blower system, he added.
Earlier yesterday, the National Association for Firefighters’ Rights said that it is to protest on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei on Monday evening — the night before Double Ten National Day — to demand better safety considerations and the ability to form unions.
Minister of the Interior Lin You-chang (林右昌) told the Legislative Yuan that it had convened experts and firefighters’ rights advocates to discuss how to amend the regulations.
Asked about firefighters’ statements that civil servant associations had the right of assembly, but lacked the rights to bargain collectively and dispute decisions, Lin said that firefighters are civil servants and have above-average amenities and benefits compared with other workers.
Additional reporting by Lin Hs
in-han
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS