My Opinion: Hold The Fort: The IWW in Taiwan

In view of the American/Kuomintang/ Chinese Communist Party (KMT/CCP) hold on Taiwan's political, economic, and military future, the working person would do well to hold on and support the freedom of the press, the right to assemble, private land rights, food safety, and environmental protection. "Communist" China's unilateral ruling-class decisions allows for none of these freedoms. Some Taiwan media does pay attention to what the people feel and want but it is few and far between. There's one aspect that Taiwan people under the KMT never had: workers rights.

"Workers rights" is what is missing from these populist issues that have taken root in Taiwan since the KMT decided to lift its record breaking forty-year martial law. Workers rights to a living wage, workplace safety, and stable hours doesn't exist here. Taiwan has never had them. Now it's even impossible to find full-time employment in franchises, both imported and domestic. Independent labor unions are still tightly controlled by the government. Taiwan labor organizations run lame, unconnected, and aimless. Some think throwing shoes at posters of people you don't like is the solution; it is not the solution.

While the guise of two-party democracy has been forged by the Democratic Peoples' Party (DPP), neither party has championed job security, safety, a forty hour work week with overtime pay, or even a five day work week. Nowadays even a full time job is scarce and the salary for entry level jobs has remained the same as they were 16 years ago. The right to organize and have collective bargaining is dim. Business owners still enjoy unequal decision making and the power w to make whatever demands on the workers they wish to make. As a result, under-employment is rampant while the prices of food, fuel, transportation have continued to rise. The dream of owning a house have slipped away as investors corner the housing market.

Workers must fight harder for the labor rights they never had and will continue not to have as Taiwan is handed over to China. Environmentalists and consumer advocates merely have to hold on to the liberal rights they've been allowed to come to expect but workers must start from scratch, clandestinely, like they did against the robber barons in the guilded age in America. The IWW has the spirit that animates the labor movement, no matter when, no matter where. Each worker has the power and responsibility to try and unionize their own workplace and show solidarity to workers who are trying to organize their own workplaces. Inclusive collective decision making of IWW unionism is the key; not top-down decision-making such as in business unions. Don't let anyone tell you the workers here are any different from oppressed workers around the world. We all suffer financial abuses from our bosses. Take the power into your own hands, fellow workers! Don't ask the union to do it for you; you are the union. Join the IWW and start your own union.

Solidarity
x347367

Police demand antinuclear picketer IDs for demonstration application 申請廢核遊行　警討糾察員身分證影本

Sat, Nov 23, 2013 - Page 11

The Central Taiwan Antinuclear Action Alliance is set to hold an antinuclear demonstration in Greater Taichung on Dec. 7. While applying for the demonstration route, police required that the alliance provide copies of every picketer’s national ID, making demonstrators feel like they were being blacklisted. The alliance has voiced its opposition and alleges that police are reverting to tactics from the White Terror era to deter them from demonstrating.
The Inspection Section of the Greater Taichung Police Department’s 6th Precinct says that the unit’s demand that picketing applicants provide copies of their national IDs is in accordance with the Assembly and Parade Act, and is only used by police for review purposes, adding that in accordance with the Personal Information Protection Act the information is kept confidential and will not be leaked.
Tsai Chih-hao, the alliance’s Greater Taichung convener, says that on the eve of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) national congress in Greater Taichung two weeks ago, the police, under a premise of “concern,” visited his office several times to check how many people would be attending the event to protest against President Ma Ying-jeou, what sort of contact various organizations had with each other, and the goings-on of important figures. This is tantamount to those in power using the police system to collect intelligence, and spy on and control people’s movements, making some private organizations feel unsafe, Tsai says.
Tsai says that when he complied with the law in applying to the police for the alliance to hold an antinuclear demonstration on Dec. 7, the police requested that picketers from the alliance provide personal data and include copies of their IDs, something he had never come across before. He is therefore dubious about police motives for requiring copies of national IDs. The police responded by saying that they merely want to check whether any applicants are wanted criminals, or underage and make sure they are demonstrating of their own volition.
Tsai says that if the police want to check for wanted criminals all they have to do is check the ID numbers that are already included on the event roster, and asks why they require copies of everyone’s national IDs only in Greater Taichung, while none of the other counties and cities in Taiwan have such requirements. Could it be that Greater Taichung is bringing back martial law?
With regard to how police have acted, legal experts say that the Assembly and Parade Act only stipulates that applicants must provide the name, sex, occupation, date of birth, national ID number, and home address and telephone number. The “procedural regulations for police agencies processing citizens’ applications for assemblies and parades” also do not require that picketers provide copies of national IDs, so experts say that police agencies must avoid arbitrarily interpreting the law.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
中台灣廢核行動聯盟十二月七日將舉行廢核遊行，但申請遊行路線時，警方除要求聯盟提供糾察人員的身分證字號、地址及電話外，還要附上身分證影印本，讓糾察人員有被列管之感，聯盟表示抗議，認為警方有白色恐怖之嫌，將讓人不敢擔任糾察人員。
台中市警六分局督察組指出，要求申請單位提供糾察員的身分證影印本，完全是根據集會遊行法的規定，純粹僅供警方內部審核，且基於個資法精神，絕對保密資料不會外洩。
中台灣廢核行動聯盟台中市召集人蔡智豪表示，兩週前國民黨在台中舉行全代會之際，警方就以「關心」名義，多次到他辦公室查訪民間社團有多少人會前往全代會抗議馬英九，及各團體之間的聯繫狀況、重點人物的動態，此乃統治者透過警察系統，情蒐監控民間各種動向，此舉已讓民間社團感到不安。
十二月七日聯盟要舉行廢核遊行，蔡智豪表示，他依法向警方提出申請，警方不但要求聯盟提供糾察人員的相關資料，還要附上身分證影印本，此為過去未有之情況，他質疑警方要求提供身分證的動機，警方則回應，想要了解是否有通緝犯、未成年者及名冊上的糾察人員是否出於本人自願。
蔡智豪強調，名冊上已有身分證字號，警方只要一查，就可知道是否為通緝犯，為何必須提供身分證影印本？而且為何只有台中市才要，其他縣市都不要，難道台中市要搞戒嚴嗎？
針對警方做法，法界人士指出，集遊法只規定在填具申請書時，載明糾察員姓名、性別、職業、出生年月日、國民身分證統一編號、住居所及電話號碼，至於「警察機關辦理人民申請集會遊行作業規定」中，也無要求附上糾察員的身分證影印本，警察機關不宜自行擴張解釋。
（自由時報記者蘇金鳳、許國楨、林良哲）

Workers stage annual Autumn Struggle protest

TAKE A LEFT TURN:：Protesters said government policies to stave off recession always mean tax cuts for the wealthy, land expropriation and loosening labor regulations

By Loa Iok-sin / Staff reporter

Mon, Nov 18, 2013 - Page 1

More than 1,000 people took to the streets to vent their anger toward the government in the annual Autumn Struggle rally yesterday in Taipei, accusing the government of favoring capitalists, while disregarding the suffering of ordinary people.
“Citizens take a left turn, return the nation to the people,” the crowd chanted at the gathering point outside The Palace, a luxury high-rise apartment complex in Taipei, where many celebrities and business leaders live.
“We’ve chosen to begin our march from outside The Palace, because we want to show how ironic it is that we’re living in the same country, yet those who are living within and outside the fence are living in two different worlds,” Chang Chien-kuo (常建國), a member of the Raged Citizens Act Now who led the demonstration, told the crowd. “Apparently, the government stands with those living within the fence, and ignores the suffering of us, who could never afford to live inside.”
While the government repeatedly declares that it is implementing policies to save the country from economic recession, those policies are always tax cuts for the rich, assisting corporations to seize private lands and further loosening labor regulations, Chang said.
“Basically, the government’s idea of ‘reviving the economy’ is that they will feed beef to the rich, and we should stay down, hoping that they may drop something from above so that we may be able to eat,” he said.
Taipei City Confederation of Trade Unions president Chiang Wan-chin (蔣萬金), agreed, saying that labor rights activists are not opposed to the rich, but they are opposed to capitalists who become rich by repressing workers.
“Reviving the economy should mean reviving the economy for all, not for only a few,” Chiang said. “The government is now pushing for free economic zones, but this will only make it worse for Taiwanese workers, as it will allow capitalists to import cheap foreign workers.”
Chiang went on to criticize the government for encouraging businesses to hire temporary workers, especially when the Council of Labor Affairs is proposing legislation on temporary workers.
“We condemn corporations for overlooking workers’ rights by using a large number of temporary workers, and it’s even more upsetting that the government is taking the lead in hiring temporary workers,” Chiang said.
The demonstrators placed pictures of 10 government and business leaders — including President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺), Council of Labor Affairs Minister Pan Shih-wei (潘世偉), Council for Economic Planning and Development Minister Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) and Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻) — into a frying pan filled with cooking oil, symbolizing the traditional belief that evil people may be fried in hell after death.
The protesters marched peacefully from The Palace to the Ministry of Finance, with representatives from different groups — including urban renewal victims, environmentalists, gender rights activists, foreign workers and teachers’ unions — each speaking against the government’s development-minded policies.
Among the marchers were about a dozen firefighters who joined the demonstration for the first time, calling on the government to improve their working conditions.
Yang Shih-wei (楊適瑋), a firefighter in Taipei, said that the firefighting force is severely understaffed, forcing most firefighters to work overtime, and many are not paid for their overtime work.
“According to the National Fire Agency’s own estimate, a total of 24,652 firefighters are needed across the country, but the entire firefighting force has only 13,941 people, meaning that there’s about a 50 percent shortage in manpower,” Yang said.
Yang said that in Taipei, firefighters may have one day off after one day of work, but in most other cities and counties, firefighters need to work two days to get one day off, and often they are asked to give up their day off because of manpower shortages.
“The horrible thing is that sometimes it is considered a ‘non-working day’ if we stay in the fire station for the whole day without any assignment. Our supervisor may say that it doesn’t count as a working day because we stayed in the station and slept,” Yang said. “Well, if I wanted to sleep, I would sleep at home. I was in the fire station because I was asked to work.”
A firefighter from Hsinchu County surnamed Wu (吳) said that once he was asked to work 14 days straight.
“Most firefighters suffer from stomach problems because of the irregular work hours and the stress,” Wu said. “It would not be as much of a burden if we only had to focus on firefighting and disaster rescues, but people often call the fire station for anything that they want help with, adding a lot of work for us.”
For example, Wu said that he was once dispatched to help people pick up a fallen flowerpot in front of a house, while Yang said that a man in Taipei once said that there was a ghost in his house and asked him to catch the ghost for him.
The demonstration ended after demonstrators placed green and blue slippers on barbed-wire police barricades to symbolize that they are fed up with both the green and the blue political camps.

IWW Introduction (Mandarin)

A Fairy Tale: Jacob Zhu-The Spy from Catchfools, China

   Jacob Zhu

The Spy from Catchfools, China

(A Fairy Tale)

By FW#347367

 

The rebellious college students head off to school at Taiwan University, but on the way they are distracted by some Chinese music and crowds and they follow the sounds until they find themselves in a crowd of people, all congregated to see the Great Jacob Zhu. The students sell their school books for tickets to the show. During the performance, the Coo Loud marionettes see the rebellious college students and cry out, "It is our comrades!" The audience grows angry, and the KMT comes out to see what is going on. Upset, they decide to use the rebellious students as firewood to cook their dinner. The students plead to be saved and the KMT gives in. When they learn about the students poor fathers, they give the students five gold pieces for their fathers.

As the students head home to give the coins to their fathers, they meet Jacob Zhu and Coo Loud who convince them that if they plant their coins in the Field of Chinese influence outside the city of Catchfools, then they will grow into a tree with a thousand gold coins, or perhaps two thousand. The rebellious students head off on a journey to Catchfools with Jacob Zhu and Coo Loud. On the way, they stop at a night market in Taipei, where Jacob Zhu and Coo Loud gorge themselves on food at the students’ expense. Jacob Zhu and Coo Loud take off ahead of the students and disguise themselves as anti-WTO protesters while the students continue on toward Catchfools. David, the blue-haired fairy, appears, telling them to go home and give the coins to their fathers but the radical students ignore him. As they pass through the forest, the disguised Jacob Zhu and Coo Loud jump out and try to rob the students, who hide the money in their mouths. In the struggle that follows the students bite Jacob’s hand off and escape deeper into the forest where they see a house with a green flag ahead. Stopping to knock on the door, they are greeted by old Sun Yat-Sen who says he is dead and waiting for the hearse. However, as they speak to him, the “bandits” catch them and hang them in trees. After a while Jacob Zhu and Coo Loud get tired of waiting for the students to suffocate and leave.                    

The Blue-haired Fairy, David, asks the students what happened and they tell him. He then asks them where the gold coins are. The rebellious students lie, saying they have lost them. As they utter this lie (and more) their noses begin to grow until they are so long they cannot turn around in the room. The Fairy David knows that it is their lies that are making their noses grow long, and then calls in a flock of woodpeckers to chisel down their noses.

The radical Taiwan University students and the Blue-haired Fairy decide to become brothers and sisters, and the Fairy sends for Sun Yat-Sen to come live with them in the forest. The students head out to meet their fathers, but on the way they meet Jacob Zhu and Coo Loud again (whom they had not recognized as the bandits, even though they had a hint from the Jacob Zhu’s bandaged hand — which he had bitten earlier; Coo Loud tells him Jacob Zhu had shown mistaken kindness to the Taiwan Independence Party). They remind the students of the Field of Miracles, and finally they agree to go with them and plant their gold. After half a day's journey, they reach the city of Catchfools, China. Everyone in the country has done something exceedingly foolish and now suffers as a result.

When they reach the "Field of Miracles", the students bury their gold then run off to wait the twenty minutes it will take for their gold to grow. After twenty minutes they return, only to find no tree and — even worse — no gold coins. Realizing what has happened, they go to Catchfools and tell the judge, an old gorilla named Mao, about Jacob Zhu and Coo Loud. The judge (as is the custom in Catchfools) sends the students to prison for their foolishness for four months. While they are in prison, however, the emperor of Catchfools, Deng Xiao-Ping, declares a celebration, and all prisoners are set free.

The radical students from Taiwan University try to find a place to stay. They pass two beggars, who are Jacob Zhu and Coo Loud. Coo Loud is, ironically, really blind now, and Jacob Zhu is actually lame, tailless (having sold his tail for money) and mangy. They plead for food or money, but the students will give them nothing, telling them it serves them right for their wickedness.

 J

My Opinion: IWW "Regional" Organizing Committee

The dictionary calls "region: a large and indefinite part of the earth; a district; a division of the world; an administrative district; a part of the world characterized by a specific kind of plant or animal life." For the IWW, a 'region' is any of the above, except plant and animal life. It is even a nation-state even though the IWW doesn't recognize national borders. Who in the IWW decides what 'region' means and which 'region' an organizing committee belongs to? Somebody in the International Solidarity Committee (ISC) decided our 'region' is Taiwan. It makes no sense.

If one chooses a common language to define a region, then Taiwan is not a region. Mandarin Chinese, which is the dialect read in Beijing, is called "the national language" (guo-yu) in Taiwan, the common language (pu-tong-hua) in China, and is also read by many people in Hong Kong, and Singapore. Taiwan is not a region. "Mandarin" would be a better description and function of our region.

Geographically, Taiwan could not be considered a 'region' and I'll tell you why. While Taiwan, like our closest neighbors, the Philippines and Japan, are on islands and Korea is on a peninsula, we don't share languages. However, in China where Canton, Beijing, Sichuan are about 1200 miles away from each other, share the same language. Taiwan is physically closer to Hong Kong (502 miles) and Shanghai (426 miles.) It is easier and faster to travel between us by plane. Geographically, Taiwan is part of the Asian 'region' but not one Asian language. Our literature is English and Mandarin. We should be called the "Mandarin Asian Region."

 

The General Executive Board of the IWW has voted us a provisional Regional Organizing Committee (R.O.C.).  On my delegate card, it says I was elected/appointed a delegate for "Taiwan Region" but on the IWW website, on the masthead under 'directory" our blog on the International Directory is listed as the only resource under the "Asia Region.”We have been given an identity conflict. We should be called the "Asian Mandarin Region" since it is with Mandarin readers in Asia that we communicate with and help workers organize their work places.

 

Precluding another R.O.C. within Asia, the R.O.C. headquartered here in Taiwan represents all of the Asian Region. Unfortunately, at this time, our only common languages are Mandarin and English. We include both Mandarin and non-Mandarin reading areas in Asia as well as India and Pakistan to the west, Russia and Japan to the North, Malaysia and the Philippines to the south, and the Northern Pacific Islands west of Hawaii. Our R.O.C. in Australia can more closely identify with New Zealand, Tasmania, Micronesia and Indonesia. Call us the "Asian Regional Organizing Committee" until further notice.

A member of the IWW living in the Asian region would be wise to pay their dues to our R.O.C. in Taiwan. We can best serve their interests in translating and reaching out to Asian workers here. We would be much obliged if GHQ referred all Asian members, foreign and domestic, to their R.O.C. in Taiwan. In this way, we can decentralize the over-burdened headquarters in Chicago, USA. Furthermore, all dues and contributions in our first year of existence (up to September 2014) remain with us here in Asia to grow and expand our services and influences. I am asking all Wobblies visiting or living in Asia to sign up keep in good standing through their Asian R.O.C. in Taiwan. Contact us at taIWWanGMB@hotmail.com to do so.

 

For One Big Union,
Solidarity,
x 347367
Del. # 13-3235

My Opinion: In Taiwan, Equality is The Key to IWW Organizing

Equality is the key to IWW organizing principles, equality and a fair day's wages for a fair day's work. Let there be no doubt that lady workers should have the same pay scale as fellow workers, and that native workers should have the same pay for the same work performed as foreign workers, be they from affluent or under-privileged areas of the world. In the same way, the dues scale of a region is the same for a native and foreign IWW member worker depending only on his or her level of monthly income.

Overtime work is another issue of equality between domestic and foreign workers irregardless of the affluence of a worker's hometown. When a worker has full-time employment, meaning a forty-hour week, as defined in the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act of the USA, he or she must be paid overtime for work done beyond forty hours. Indeed, even a per-diem worker or part-time worker, with hours clearly defined, must be compensated at the same hourly rate for time spent doing business on regular business days, five days a week. Why should an under-privileged domestic worker work six or seven days a week when an affluent foreign worker is only held to five? On the other hand, why should an under-privileged foreign worker work six or seven days a week when an affluent domestic worker is held to five? In equal pay for equal work, there are no mitigating circumstances. The IWW must agree.

Vacation and personal days are another issue. There can be no vacation for a domestic worker that isn't a vacation for a foreign worker. The number of personal and sick days must be equal for both domestic and foreign workers. The national holidays stipulated by the ruling class of a region affect both domestic and foreign workers and both must follow the 'national' holidays, whether they are meaningful to the foreign worker or not. Indeed, personal days and sick days are the days a worker may take off to celebrate a personal or foreign holiday or just rest when rest is needed. This, as  Industrial Workers of the World, we must fight for.

As we go about working in Taiwan as a domestic or foreign worker from an affluent or under-privileded region, this should be the goal at our workplace. It is the heritage of the IWW to have equal rights as domestic workers, just as immigrant workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1911 fought for the 33 cents taken from their pay envelopes and fought the class struggle in the Strike for Three Loaves to do so. Whether we can persue equal pay for equal work overtly or clandestinly, as Wobblies, we must agitate to have it done and not be so haughty to accept higher pay from an under-privileged region just because the ruling class in Taiwan agrees it is okay to do so. We must fight on; agitate, educate, and organize our new compatriots, show solidarity with domestic Taiwanese workers, men and women alike, whatever their age.

Another area of equality between domestic and foreign workers is the language used at General Membership Meetings. No matter which language is spoken domestically, the IWW must strive to have meetings and literature available and useful to all speakers and readers present. The simplest terms, procedures, and rules must be a consideration for speakers of all languages. Translating must take precedent in all regions. As we build our union in Taiwan and Mandarin Chinese speaking regions of the world, let us remember these fundamental principles as we create the new world out of the shell of the old.

For One Big Union,
Solidarity,
x 347367

Hualon workers protest over pension payments

OVERNIGHT STAY:：Former Hualon workers who say that they are owed pensions by the company planned to stay at Taipei Railway Station overnight in protest

By Loa Iok-sin / Staff reporter

Thu, Nov 14, 2013 - Page 3

Retired Hualon Group employees who say they are owed retirement payouts by the company yesterday were involved in several protests in Taipei and began an overnight demonstration in the lobby of Taipei Railway Station, saying they would continue their actions today.
“You see Taiwan, but do you see the laborers?” members of the Hualon Self-Help Organization shouted at a press conference held jointly by Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) and director of the film Beyond Beauty: Taiwan From Above (看見台灣) Chi Po-lin (齊柏林) following a special screening of the documentary.
The protesters shouted the slogan in reference to the Chinese title of the documentary, part of which literally means “seeing Taiwan.”
The protesters were not removed by force immediately, instead, Jiang, who was interrupted, stopped and listened to them, and asked his assistant to take the petition from some women who were speaking about their situation.
Later when Jiang was about to leave the theater after watching the documentary, National Tsing Hua University student Sun Chih-yu (孫致宇), who was with the labor group, threw a pair of red and white slippers, but the shoes all missed the premier.
Earlier yesterday, more than 100 former Hualon employees also demonstrated outside the Control Yuan and the Executive Yuan buildings, asking for help from the government.
“I’ve worked for 31 years at Hualon, but I didn’t get a penny of my retirement payout,” 65-year-old Chang Chiu-shun (張秋順) said during a demonstration outside the Executive Yuan building in front of a line of police shields. “We’re not asking the government to pay us, we’re merely asking it to help us pursue our bosses to give us our money.”
Chang said she began to work for Hualon in 1978 and retired in 2009 and though she is entitled to a NT$1.3 million (US$44,000) retirement payout, the company said that it is out of cash and promised to repay the debt within three years.
However, the promise has never been fulfilled, she said.
“We’ve worked so hard and paid so many taxes to the government, I don’t understand why is it not willing to help us” she said.
Lee Tsui-ming (李翠明), president of the self-help organization, said that to protect the interests of employees at Chang Chi Foodstuff Factory Co, which is now under investigation for allegedly adulterating its edible oil, the Changhua County Government has made efforts to seize some of the company’s property.
“If the county government is prepared to go this far to protect workers’ rights, why can’t the Council of Labor Affairs do the same?” Lee said.
The protesters planned to stay overnight in the lobby of Taipei Railway Station, and to stage another protest outside Hualon’s headquarters in Taipei at 7:30am today.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan

Nov. 24, meeting in Kaohsiung

The November monthly meeting of the Industrial Workers of the World, will be held in Kaoshiung, Taiwan, on November 24, 2013 at 6:00pm at the following location:

By the Kaohsiung railroad station, 
Starbucks, 1樓, No. 221, Chénggōng 1st Rd, Lingya District, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

Groups say Sunday protest against Ma, KMT is a go

By Mo Yan-chih / Staff reporter

Thu, Nov 07, 2013 - Page 3

Several groups yesterday said a rally planned for Sunday against President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) during the party’s 19th congress in Greater Taichung will be held even though a “protest zone” will not be established.
The groups, including the National Alliance for Workers of Closed Factories (NAWCF), has collected more than 5,000 shoes for demonstrators to throw during the protest outside the Taichung Stadium in Wuci District (梧棲). More shoe-collections will be held in Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Greater Taichung ahead of the protest.
“These shoes are not thrown to hurt anyone. Throwing shoes is a way to express anger and discontent with the authorities. Besides, the KMT will block the roads around the stadium on Sunday, and there is no way we can throw shoes at any government officials. It is not going to be a violent protest,” NAWCF member Wu Yung-yi (吳永毅) said outside the KMT’s headquarters in Taipei as representatives from the groups defended the rally.
Holding signs that read “Vote with your shoes. Take back your rights!” the groups slammed the KMT for obtaining permission to use eight major roads around the stadium and blocking the venue off from protestors.
Despite the Taichung City Police Department’s decision not to set up a protest zone on Sunday, Wu said the rally will proceed regardless of the police department’s plans.
“Blocking the streets around the venue is a tactic that deprives the people of the rights to rally. The party is forcing us to confront the police when holding the rally,” he said.
The KMT had discussed the possibility of setting up an area across the street from the stadium, which could hold several thousand people, for protests and petitioners. However, the police ruled out the idea, saying protesters would not necessarily confine their demonstrations to the zone.
The police said nets to catch shoes or other objects thrown by demonstrators will be prepared, but may not be used.
Ma, who doubles as KMT chairman, has promised to ensure the safety and dignity of party delegates during the congress in response to concerns voiced by some KMT Central Standing Committee (CSC) members over possible shoe-throwing protests.
He also promised to respect the public’s rights to rally.

An Introduction to the IWW (Mandarin)

自1970年以來，我們的世界改變了很多。「財富」前所未有的大轉移，導致無數人變得貧窮，而少數幾個人卻富可敵國。我們看到的是：

今天，全世界340位億萬富翁所控制的財富，遠超過20億最窮的人的總財產。每天我們看到人們飢餓受苦、環境惡化，人類文明也開始慢慢崩壞，這些是為了什麼？是為了讓少數的那一、二千人暴富並且掌權。

我們看到了所謂「共產主義」體制的崩解，接著是也好不到哪去的自由市場體系的興起。

我們看到工業主義進入前社會主義國家和開發中國家，連帶的是血汗工廠的興起以及資源大量的被資本家偷走。

世界產業工人聯合會（IWW或Wobblies）是1905年就存在的革命工會。IWW是因應北美洲的工人要求更激進更民主的工會而生。

在工會運動裡面，Wobblies是非常有名的，老闆都怕我們。透過我們民主結構、靈活策略、團結以及對未來的願景，IWW的對世界的影響一直存在。

今天，IWW變得比以往更加重要。我們希望這份簡介能說服你加入我們，一起建造一個勞工的「單一大工會」，並一舉消滅剝削人的資本主義和階級社會。

序言
IWW憲章的開宗明義地說明了我們的基本原則：

勞工階級和雇主階級絕對不一樣。只要飢餓和匱乏還存在數百萬勞工群之中，而少數雇主卻擁有所有好的東西的時候，就沒有和平的可能。

這兩個階級間的鬥爭必須持續到全世界勞工掌握了全球的生產機器，打破薪資制度，並且與大自然和平共處為止。

我們發現，工業越來越集中到少數人手中，使得職業工會無力應付雇主階級日益強大的力量。職業工會造成在同一種產業中，工人互相鬥爭，使得工人在反抗薪資制度的戰爭裡互相消耗。甚至，職業工會協助雇主誤導工人，讓工人以為工人和雇主站是在同一陣線。

只要我們能夠組織跨部門的產業工會，甚至有必要的話，成立全產業工會，這些情況是可以改變的，我們可以把勞工階級的利益搶回來，只要有任何人所在的工廠罷工或是停工，其他人就一起停止工作，也就是「一人受傷，全體受害」。

相對於保守派的座右銘：「做多少事，拿多少薪水」，我們必須要更具有革命性的口號：「打破薪水制度」！

趕走資本主義是勞工階級長久以來的任務。負責生產的工人必須要組織起來，不只是為了每天反對資本家的抗爭，也是為了在資本主義倒台之後，我們能夠繼續接管自行生產。產業工會組織，讓我們從舊的組織方式產生新的社會結構。

勞工階級解放 -- IWW相信，團結行動、工會組織讓我們從舊的組織方式產生新的社會結構。透過團結，我們將會創造一個自由的世界，讓所有人都能夠有所依靠。沒錯，IWW是激進的，像是科學家在實驗室工作，像是外科醫師準備割除一個敗壞的組織，像是老師必須說出真相。我們都知道因為激進主義（Radicalism）人們今天的生活比昨天更好。過去激進主義是唯一能使世界走出飢餓、仇恨和恐懼的力量。我們認為必須要破除資本主義，因為資本主義製造出不快樂的世界，毒害我們的夢想，毒害我們的家庭，也毒害了這個世界，這一切僅僅是為了使富人更加富有。

IWW非政治 -- IWW不是政治組織，不干涉成員的政治思想和活動。IWW只要求政治立場不要造成工會內部的分裂。這項規定讓不同政治信仰的工人，在沒有衝突的狀況下，促進他們的經濟利益。IWW注重直接行動（罷工、杯葛、職場抗爭），因為歷史告訴我們，掌握經濟力的人，通常也掌握政治力。IWW相信，只要是經由政客得到的利益，不久之後就會被連本帶利的奪回。只有工人用自己力量所掙來的，才是真的。我們發現工人只有聯合在一起，形成一個工人階級，才能戰勝老闆。與其分散我們的精力去分哪個政黨或哪種政治路線的優先順序，我們應該先針對老闆，把我們的職場作為戰鬥場。

IWW非宗教 -- IWW沒有宗教傾向，也不干涉成員的宗教信仰。這種信仰是人性自由的一部份，IWW努力伸張自由，不會去傷害。

IWW如何組織？

單一大工會：IWW相信勞工需要組織為一個大聯盟（One Big Union，OBU），能夠捍衛我們的共同利益並且控制我們的經濟。

工業聯合：WW一直相信，以行業別、技術作為組織基礎，會產生工人和工會之前的對立和分裂。因此，我們組織27個跨部門的產業工會，企圖聯合各個工業的工人。

地方分會：IWW成員可以形成幾種地方分會。一種是同一雇主同一地區的地方分會。產業分會則是同一產業的產業地方分會。一般地方分會則是來自各個產業的成員所組成，負責協調各個分會的活動。

區域分會：特定區域的IWW成員可以組成區域分會（ROC，Regional Organization Committee）。一個區域分會負責的是協調該區域內的IWW活動。

全世界：在澳洲雪梨、敘利亞里昂、俄羅斯莫斯科，或是加拿大溫哥華的IWW，都是同一個工會底下的夥伴。在各個國家、各個區域，我們用同樣的規則和同樣的符號來組織IWW，這是因為在資本家已經以「自由貿易」和跨國企業聯合起來的狀況之下，這是唯一可行的工人組織方式。

IWW的基礎信念是，一般勞工必須掌控他的工會以及工會幹部，而不是被他們控制。沒有任何一個勞工工會能限制其成員的自由，或者是用繁文縟節來騷擾少數人。所以，IWW除了基本的需要之外，沒有多餘的規定。最重要的工作，包括工會幹部的選舉，都是由成員公投來決定。工會幹部如果無法滿足工會的需求，就必須立即解職。

國際推選的IWW職位，包括七人總執行局（GEB，General Executive Board）以及總秘書財務長（GST，Genreal Secretary-Treasurer）。總執行局是監管IWW大會和大會之間互動的組織，監管IWW每日的運作、財物以及出版。總秘書財務長負責保存書籍、報紙，並確保辦公室運作，同時負責辦公室正式文書以及聯繫。工會幹部和工作人員的薪資，依照產業的平均薪資所得給付。如此一來，加上任期的限制，避免工會變成官僚體制，造成某一階級掌控工會權力的可能性。
大部分IWW的工作是無給職，因為組織的成員相信他們在進行的運動，並樂意盡其所能的推進。雖然IWW的組織和結構強烈保障民主，但如果IWW失去民主精神，也沒有任何法條能保障民主。這是因為自由的根源不在於能夠被人改變的法律，而是人們自己。

方法和策略

彈性策略 -- IWW以有創意的方式打擊老闆而聞名。我們相信，勞工階級勝利的關鍵是彈性、創意，以及瞭解勞工自身的力量。我們相信佔人類絕大多數的工人，有權利控制我們自己的生活和社會。IWW的行動，可以是離開工作場所（walk out），也可以是合法組織工會。雖然IWW不相信政府的勞資協調，但我們也不愚蠢。我們知道，可以用勞工法來抵抗老闆的攻擊。但長期而言，IWW相信，未來工作場所真正落實工人民主時，工人必須要自己做決定。

與其依賴別人來打自己的仗，我們相信我們可以也應該只依賴彼此。這就是所謂「直接行動」，它可以有很多型態。它可以很簡單，也可以很複雜，可以自發性的參與，也可以提前籌劃。要點是，我們要決定我們自己的目標，決定我們如何達到這個目標。

團結一體 -- 勞工階級的需求和利益，與雇主階級的需求和利益是相對立的。做為勞工個體，我們也許有些地方會與單一雇主相類似。事實上，我們並不是要對資本家進行報復，而只是要他們在工作上誠實。我們工人有能力一起行動，得到我們所共同需要的東西。這就是團結。不論種族、民族、性別、國籍、宗教、年齡、性向、語言、教育、和技術行業，我們都站在一起。前述的區分會弱化我們邁向更好社會的努力。贏得階級勝利的唯一方法，就是看見個體的差異，克服差異，團結一致對抗老闆。 一人受傷，全體受害！

大家都是領導者！ -- IWW拒絕所謂「領導」，因為個人領導可能造成誤導。工人不斷被他們所信賴、所跟隨的領導所背叛。唯有非個人的領導才不會遭到背叛。IWW創立者之一，尤金德布斯（Eugene Debs）說：「任何人被引領加入革命的人，也會很容易被帶離革命的道路。」但也有些人能夠很快地闡述自己的想法，發展出適時的策略。這些人不想要當領導者，但也不願意盲從其他人的意見。IWW需要的就是這種人才，因為這是一個工人的組織，因為這些成員有共同且相似的經驗，因為這些工人從不缺智慧和創意。

非暴力 -- 雇主總是首先訴諸武力或暴力，而IWW只教工人使用法律所認可的方式，也就是工人有權捍衛自己的權益，反抗雇主和資本家的攻擊。在80年代末期，全世界看著東歐的警察政權崩潰。這些政權的崩潰是因為所有階級的人民都拒絕這樣的政治。當我們勞工都拒絕參與資本
主義，同樣的結果就會發生。這就是為何只要勞工團結一體，暴力並不非必要手段。勞工需要的只是在大罷工中，手臂勾手臂，一起迎向勝利。

成員資格 -- 成為IWW的成員有3項要件：

你是否為工人，沒有雇用和解雇的權力？
你同意IWW的原則嗎？
你願意以IWW的原則和目標來教育自己嗎？

假如你對上面3問的答案是肯定的，那你就可以成為IWW的成員。