LABOR RIGHTS VIGIL:Protesters gathered outside the Legislative Yuan welcomed the decision, but said a resolution focused too much on legal technicalities
Taipei Times
Date: Mar 29, 2016
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter
A Ministry of Labor proposal to cut the number of officially designated national holidays was
Labor rights campaigners yesterday hold banners and wave placards outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, calling on the Ministry of Labor and president-elect Tsai Ing-wen not to cut the number of national holidays. Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
yesterday rejected by the Legislative Yuan’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, in a hearing marred by clashes between legislators and Minister of Labor Chen Hsiung-wen (陳雄文).
The committee passed a resolution condemning the ministry’s executive order, saying it violated the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法).
The executive order is to be sent back to the ministry for reconsideration if the resolution is approved by the Legislative Yuan’s full session.
The ministry moved to reduce the number of national holidays after the passage of legislation mandating a 40-hour work week drew criticism from legislators in questioning before the committee’s vote.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chung Kung-chao (鍾孔炤), a former Kaohsiung Bureau of Labor Affairs commissioner, said the ministry’s order violated articles of the Labor Standards Act that mandate days off should be granted for days of commemoration, Labor Day and other holidays decided by central government bodies. Designation of the holidays cut by the ministry’s executive order is the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior, he said, accusing the Ministry of Labor of overstepping its authority. [FULL STORY]
