Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-02-02
The transportation minister, Ho Chen Tan, says a group of railway workers who were
The Lunar New Year holiday is Taiwan’s busiest travel season. (CNA)
absent from work on Lunar New Year’s Eve could be fired.
Around 200 railway employees skipped work on January 27, the start of Taiwan’s busiest travel season, amid a dispute with the Taiwan Railways Administration.
The Taiwan Railway Union had been pushing for members to get vacation time during the first days of the Lunar New Year. The union said this was in accordance with a recent revision to Taiwan’s labor law. The revision gives all employees the right to one day off per week plus one “negotiable” day off that can be traded for overtime pay.
Ho Chen Tan said Thursday however that railway workers are considered a special category under the law. He said railway workers’ vacation rights are covered under separate regulations. He said the staff would have had these laws explained to them when they applied for their jobs. [SOURCE]
