Poor working conditions have taken a toll on recruiting, further compounding the problems of overworked police.
The News Lens
Date: 2018/05/07
By: Morley J Weston
Photo Credit:柯文哲
contentious amendments to the Labor Standards Act (LSA) are entering their third month, having come into force March 1, but it is not just migrant caregivers who fall outside the Act’s minimal worker protections – spare a thought for Taiwan’s boys in blue.
Hsiao Ren-hao (蕭仁豪), criminal investigator and a member of the unofficial advocacy group Taiwan Police Union (TPU, 台灣警察工作權益推動協會) told The News Lens, “I worked 88 hours of overtime [in February], 16 hours of which were unpaid. There are so many unfair things that happen to us, and we often don’t understand why we don’t get paid.”
Hsiao said, “I graduated from Central Police University and thought I would be starting a good job. I always looked up to cops, but things have really changed – we have so much work.”
He added that it was common for police officers to work and drive while extremely deprived of sleep: “Do you think after such a long day we can be safe on the road?”
[FULL STORY]
