00:00It's International Labour Day and in Taiwan, thousands of workers are taking to the street
00:05calling for better workplace rights and protections.
00:10Let's go now to the presidential office.
00:13Our reporter Tiffany Wong is outside there with demonstrators.
00:18Tiffany, what are these workers calling for?
00:24Hi, Louise.
00:25Thousands of workers representing dozens of labor unions are spending their May 1st Labor Day here
00:31at Kettle Golland Boulevard in front of the presidential office and they've just set off to march towards the legislature.
00:38They're workers from the manufacturing, education, banking and medical industries
00:43and they're all calling for better protections in the Labor Standards Act,
00:47including more flexible time off, more national holidays and even four-day work weeks.
00:54Now, it's notable that even today, Labor Day is a public holiday, but not all workers actually have the day off.
01:01And in 2023, Taiwanese workers ranked fifth worldwide for the longest working hours compared to other developed countries.
01:10And analysts say that that could be because they're trying to make up for low salaries.
01:14So people here are also calling for better compensation.
01:17And some of the service workers I spoke with earlier today, including those in the health care and child care industries,
01:25say that working long hours could affect the quality of their care and their work.
01:30People here are also calling for anti-bullying protections in the workplace.
01:34And Taiwan does not have any legislation protecting that right now.
01:39And they're seeking especially avenues for reporting these incidents when there's like a hostile work environment.
01:45And according to the latest poll, over 70 percent of Taiwanese workers have experienced bullying in the workplace before.
01:52And Tiffany, how is the government responding to these demands and concerns?
01:57Well, earlier today at a cabinet meeting, the head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration came out with a list of improvements
02:10that the government is aiming to make.
02:12Those include better occupational hazard protections and channels for reporting workplace bullying incidents,
02:18especially when they involve higher ups, and standardizing the investigative procedures when those incidents are reported.
02:27透過這次職場霸凌的法制化,我們希望要求企業能更加重視,
02:33然後積極預防,那提供勞工申訴管道,保障勞工的權益,
02:38以營造友善的職場。
02:39Taiwan has made strides with labor rights in recent years, including improvements to the national holiday schedule for workers.
02:49But with high profile workplace bullying incidents, including those in the Ministry of Labor itself,
02:56have people out here calling for more action.
03:01Thanks, Tiffany, for that update.
03:03That was Tiffany Wong, live for us in Taipei.
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