A coalition of labor rights groups is to launch a hunger strike next month to demand the reinstatement of seven days off that were scrapped in 2016, as lawmakers review bills on “anniversaries and national holidays enforcement.”
The Work with Dignity alliance on Thursday last week said it would ask people to join its 200-hour hunger strike outside the legislature from 10am on April 11 to 6pm on April 19.
The alliance is also calling for employers to pay more into employee pensions and the establishment of a similar system for foreign workers.
Photo: Lee Chin-hui, Taipei Times
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus said the aim to give people their days off back has been designated as a priority. Related bills are set to be reviewed this week.
The KMT in 2015 removed the seven days off “to make up for the fewer hours of work following a legal revision that year that shortened the workweek from 42 to 40 hours.”
In 2016, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus, which then had a legislative majority, refused to acknowledge the order and it became invalid. As a result, the public had five of the seven days off later that year.
In December 2016, amendments to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) cleared the legislature, which canceled the seven days off and introduced the “one fixed day off, one flexible rest day” policy.
Before the cancelations, Jan. 2, Youth Day (March 29), Teachers’ Day (Sept. 28), Retrocession Day (Oct. 25), Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) birthday (Oct. 31), Sun Yat-sen’s (孫逸仙) birthday (Nov. 12) and Constitution Day (Dec. 25) were considered days off.
The “one fixed day off, one flexible rest day” policy mandates that workers have one guaranteed day off each week, while the second rest day can be negotiated or adjusted.
Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) on Monday last week dismissed the idea of reinstating the seven days off.
Meanwhile, Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Su Chun-jung (蘇俊榮) on Thursday said he was “not opposed” to giving people May 1 off for Workers’ Day, while Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Friday said that more discussions were needed.
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