The News Lens
Date: 2017/12/06
By: Brian Hioe

Amendments to the Labor Standards Act have moved closer to passage despite

Photo Credit:關鍵評論網　林奕甫

protesters’ efforts, with the next step happening on Dec. 23.

Following a dramatic series of attempts to invade the Legislative Yuan and a blockade of the intersection of Zhongshan South Road and Qingdao West Road, protests today (Dec. 6) against planned changes to the Labor Standards Act were not successful in preventing the act from passing. Nevertheless, although labor organizers fear that the changes will pass speedily into law following a second and third reading on the floor of the Legislative Yuan, one can expect further protest to happen when this happens in the near future.

Protests began today at 9 a.m., when the committee review of the planned changes began. It is suspected by many that the legislature has deliberately taken to scheduling reviews of planned changes for morning times on weekdays, when workers would have more difficulty making it to a protest, meaning some need to take days off to make it. Likewise, this has allowed DPP legislators to make the accusation against workers that they are not real workers demonstrating, seeing as they seem to have so much time to protest.    [FULL  STORY]