LABOR RIGHTS: Protesters rallied on Ketagalan Boulevard, shouting ‘no more overwork.’ One protester said that President Tsai Ing-wen has rolled back labor conditions 30 years
Taipei Times
Date: May 21, 2018
By: Ann Maxon / Staff reporter
A coalition of labor rights groups accused President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of failing to
Members of labor rights groups perform a skit outside the Presidential Office Building on Ketagalan Boulevard yesterday. The protesters in the foreground are wearing masks of President Tsai Ing-wen and Premier William Lai, while those in the background are wearing capes reading “overwork.” Photo: Lee Ya-wen, Taipei Times
deliver on her campaign promises to workers at a protest yesterday morning as Tsai marked the second anniversary of her inauguration.
About 40 protesters rallied outside the Presidential Office Building on Ketagalan Boulevard, holding placards and shouting “no more overwork.”
“We are here today because President Tsai promised workers that she would raise salaries, reduce work hours, encourage the organization of unions, protect non-regular employees, help young and elderly people find jobs, and take care of those with work-related injuries and illnesses,” Taoyuan Confederation of Trade Unions member Wei Yu-ling (魏豫綾) said. “However, in the past two years, she has fulfilled almost none of them.”
To justify its poor labor policies, the government has blamed migrant workers, saying that they are the reason the average monthly salary has not increased, she said, referring to a comment by Vice Premier Shih Jun-ji (施俊吉) on Monday that the nation’s real average wage last year would have been the highest in 18 years if migrant workers’ earnings were not included. [FULL STORY]
