Legislature rejects labor holiday cuts

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-08
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Legislative Yuan on Friday rejected a government proposal which would have cut the number of holidays for laborers by seven per year, and demanded that the Cabinet revise or cancel the plan within two months.

A new Cabinet, headed by former Finance Minister Lin Chuan, is scheduled to take office on May 20, the same day Democratic Progressive Party Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen is scheduled to be sworn in as president.

Facing questioning by lawmakers last month, Labor Minister Chen Hsiung-wen insisted the seven free days had to be removed from texts related to the Labor Standards Act in conjunction with the introduction of the 40-hour week.

Labor groups protested, accusing the Kuomintang government of sacrificing the interests of workers to benefit employers, while Chen struck back at lawmakers saying they should sue him if they disagreed.     [FULL  STORY]