The Cabinet yesterday passed a draft amendment that would allow five types of public servants to form “special associations” amid calls to allow unionization following a deadly fire last month.
The amendment would allow firefighters to form separate groups from police as current law requires.
The amendment, if passed, would allow five types of public servants — judicial officials, accountants, customs officers, police and medical personnel — to form such associations.
Photo courtesy of the Executive Yuan
According to the amendment, the associations would fall under the same law’s authority.
The Ministry of Civil Service would be responsible for reviewing and approving applications for the formation of special associations if there seems to be a discrepancy between the actual work being conducted and the professional nature of the job.
For example, firefighters and police officers both observe the Police Personnel Management Act (警察人員人事條例), even though their professions are different, Directorate-General of Personnel Administration General Planning Division Director Chou Wei-ting (周威廷) said.
The amendment also states that the formation of special agency-specific associations at Category 3 government agencies would require a minimum of 200 members, while special associations for the five types of public servants would need at least 400.
The number of people required to form special agency-specific associations under the central government and in municipalities would also be reduced from 800 to 400.
As for criticism that the threshold was too high, Chou said that public servants eligible to form special associations numbered 3,800 or above, adding that firefighters had an even higher headcount nationwide.
Chou said that the agency set a threshold to ensure that the groups would be proportionate enough to represent their vocation’s collective views while reasonably relaxing restrictions.
The amendment would allow special associations to make suggestions or attend committees, bodies or meetings, as long as the issues discussed pertain to the interest of its members.
It would also set standards on performance evaluations, and special associations could negotiate with local authorities regarding training, further education, and assistance for employee mental and physical health.
Negotiations would see certain constraints imposed, preventing the government from holding endless meetings, Chou said, adding that other measures are being introduced to ensure that the special associations could uphold the rights of their members.
Separately, Executive Yuan spokesman Lin Tzu-lun (林子倫) quoted Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) as saying that the amendment was introduced in response to labor trends and demands, and the government hoped that the introduction of special associations would maintain amity between the government and public servants.
Additional reporting by CNA
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday vowed to protest at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week should EVA Airway Corp’s management continue to ignore the union’s petition to change rules on employees’ leave of absence system, after a flight attendant reportedly died after working on a long-haul flight while ill. The case has generated public discussion over whether taking personal or sick leave should affect a worker’s performance review. Several union members yesterday protested at the Legislative Yuan, holding white flowers and placards, while shouting: “Life is priceless; requesting leave is not a crime.” “The union is scheduled to meet with
‘UNITED FRONT’ RHETORIC: China’s TAO also plans to hold weekly, instead of biweekly, news conferences because it wants to control the cross-strait discourse, an expert said China’s plan to expand its single-entry visa-on-arrival service to Taiwanese would be of limited interest to Taiwanese and is a feeble attempt by Chinese administrators to demonstrate that they are doing something, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the program aims to facilitate travel to China for Taiwanese compatriots, regardless of whether they are arriving via direct flights or are entering mainland China through Hong Kong, Macau or other countries, and they would be able to apply for a single-entry visa-on-arrival at all eligible entry points in China. The policy aims
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
EVA Airways president Sun Chia-ming (孫嘉明) and other senior executives yesterday bowed in apology over the death of a flight attendant, saying the company has begun improving its health-reporting, review and work coordination mechanisms. “We promise to handle this matter with the utmost responsibility to ensure safer and healthier working conditions for all EVA Air employees,” Sun said. The flight attendant, a woman surnamed Sun (孫), died on Friday last week of undisclosed causes shortly after returning from a work assignment in Milan, Italy, the airline said. Chinese-language media reported that the woman fell ill working on a Taipei-to-Milan flight on Sept. 22
RSS