The Taiwan Railway Labor Union is protesting for sick leave protections and the right to take time off on national holidays. On sick leave, it has a chance to have its way, as officials hold a hearing on the matter. But the court system has overruled the union on national holidays, paving the way for possible labor friction.
00:10Railway union reps gather in the morning rain to begin a day of protests.
00:15Their first stop, the Labor Insurance Bureau, where they're demanding the right to sick leave.
00:20Labor laws guarantee up to 29 days a year for workers who aren't in the hospital.
00:25But these union reps say actually getting that leave, even for a few days, can be hard.
00:31They're here today because in a short while the Labor Ministry will hold a hearing
00:35on putting sick leave protections into the law, and they want to make sure they're heard.
00:40Taiwan Railway union director Wang Jie says his own experience after getting sick this year
00:46shows the pressure bosses can bring to bear on workers.
00:49He says that even though a court has ruled that workers don't have to give a doctor's note
00:53if they only take one day of sick leave, his boss still demands them, sometimes arbitrarily.
00:59He wants this employee to let him go, he'll let him go, he'll let him go.
01:03We also have employees who have the right to prove a doctor after a trial,
01:06and they don't need to give a right to prove a right to the next day.
01:08But like me, I always have to give them every time.
01:10And they even will be able to give a phone call to the workstation to ask what time you need to give a right to the right to the right to the right to the right.
01:17Other labor activists here say this isn't just a problem with Taiwan's railways.
01:22Instead, it's a problem with Taiwan's work culture in general,
01:25one they say has had deadly consequences in the recent past,
01:29and one they say the government should step in to manage.
01:32...
02:01They want the Labor Ministry to guarantee at least 15 days sick leave, with no repercussions
02:05from employers.
02:07No officials come out of the Labor Insurance Bureau to respond, but the protesters don't
02:12wait around long either.
02:14That's because today's a big day for the railway union, the end of a 100-hour hunger
02:18strike at Taipei's main station.
02:21This hunger strike is the latest move in a dispute dating back to 2017 over whether railway
02:26workers can be scheduled to work on national holidays without their consent.
02:31Over 300 workers were reprimanded for taking time off over that year's busy Lunar New Year
02:36holiday.
02:37The union had early legal success, but the Supreme Administrative Court has overturned the ruling.
02:43The court says the union acted in bad faith by only giving the railway company a few days'
02:47notice.
02:48But the hunger strikers say their leave requests were legal, and even new employees who have
02:53nothing to do with the case have signed up for the hunger strike.
02:56I am a former railway agent.
02:58I have been receiving many previous employees who have been trying to fight for the war.
03:03I have been receiving more responsibility and safe for the railway agent to work on a railway
03:09station.
03:10But back to our current point of the most important point of the day, the Supreme Court Court
03:16Taiwan Railway did not send out a representative to meet with the hunger strikers.
03:35But in an earlier statement, it said it abides by labor laws
03:39and respects the decisions of Taiwan's courts.
03:42Still, while the matter appears to be settled for now,
03:45the hunger strikers say they are exploring other options
03:48for pushing forward their demand to make work on national holidays voluntary.
03:52Meaning this may not be the end to a rocky period in labor relations on Taiwan's railways.
03:59meaning this may not be the end to a rocky period in labor relations on Taiwan's railways.
04:17John Su and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
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