LOBBYING: The organization recommended relaxing rules to free firms of work hour limits, which one group leader said was a bid to turn local workers into slaves
Taipei Times
Date: Apr 19, 2018
By: Ann Maxon / Staff reporter
Labor rights groups yesterday protested against the American Chamber of Commerce in
Members of labor groups protest in front of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei’s office yesterday. Photo: Lee Ya-wen, Taipei Times
Taipei (AmCham) for what they called its pressuring of the government into relaxing labor standards, urging workers to join a march advocating workers’ rights on Labor Day next month.
About 30 members of various labor groups rallied in front of AmCham’s office on Minsheng E Road in Taipei, holding banners and shouting: “Taiwanese are dying from overwork as American bosses swim in cash.”
“We believe AmCham played a major role in lobbying for the current version of the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), which is expected to increase death from overwork,” Taiwan Higher Education Union researcher Chen Po-chien (陳柏謙) said.
In June last year, AmCham released a white paper calling for more flexibility when planning workers’ schedules, despite Taiwan already having the fifth-longest working hours in the world, he said. [FULL STORY]
