The China Post
Date: September 7, 2016
By: Sun Hsin Hsuan
Railway workers have threatened to strike unless the government acts to enforce legal working hours,
Protesters shackle themselves to fake stones to show that employees are exhausted by worker shortages and poor working conditions at the Transportation Ministry on Tuesday, Sept. 6.
holidays and overtime pay, warning that current working conditions had already proved fatal.
Led by the newly established Taiwan Railway Union, more than 300 workers protested outside the Transportation Ministry Tuesday.
They described the rail service as beset by labor disputes and long-term staff shortages, calling on the state-owned Taiwan Railways Administration to increase recruitment and improve working conditions.
Specifically, the demonstrators said rail workers were not being given adequate rest time or overtime pay as stipulated by labor laws.
Current work schedules abide by a “day, night, rest day” rule. Under the rule, employees work a daytime shift from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., then, 24 hours later, begin a night shift from 7:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m., which is the morning of their rest day. [FULL STORY]
