TRA collective bargaining pact outdated, union says

DOUBLE WHAMMY:Railway employees are subject to two separate work regulations that the railway agency abuses to their detriment, union director Chou Kai said

By Abraham Gerber  /  Staff reporter

Members of the Taiwan Railways Administration union hold up signs during a protest march from the Taipei Railway Station to the Executive Yuan in Taipei yesterday.

Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times

The collective bargaining agreement for Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) employees is outdated and exploitative, Taiwan Railway Union members said yesterday in a protest outside the Executive Yuan.

“Oppose exploitation, we want rest. Comrades, let us fight to the end for tomorrow’s victory,” the demonstrators chanted, turning heads as they marched from Taipei Railway Station’s central hall to the Executive Yuan, where they posted a copy of their three-day work schedule on one of the gates.

About 25 union members had camped out at the station overnight to protest the failure of the TRA to take clear steps to improve working conditions, which they said have worsened since the last collective bargaining agreement was signed in 1988.

According to the agreement, workers do not take regular days off, instead working alternating day and night shifts with a 24-hour rest period in between, a cycle that repeats every three days.

“While this was the way shifts were arranged in the past, because of a staff shortage, we can no longer take a holiday,” union director Chou Kai (周鍇) said.

Chou said that the number of employees has fallen steadily, while the work load has increased due to the TRA’s efforts to turn the railways into a subway-like commuting system, adding new stations and routes along the western and northern lines.

“As every train should have at least one locomotive engineer and one car captain, there should in theory be at least one or more car captains for every engineer, but there are more engineers than car captains,” he said, adding that the lack of “reserve workers” was the main reason workers are not allowed to take holidays.

Union members also accused the TRA of arbitrarily applying the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) and the Civil Service Act (公務人員服務法) regulations.

Railway workers are subject to both acts, as they are employed by the government and have to pass civil service exams.

“Legally, the TRA is supposed to choose whichever of the two standards is most favorable to us, but that has not played out in reality,” Chou said.

“For example, the Civil Service Act is used on the issue of job responsibility, because penalties for violations are higher, but for rest time regulations, we are treated as workers,” he said.

Railway workers’ classification as “civil servants” also allows the government to require them to work on national holidays, he said.

“Regarding the issue of Teachers’ Day, the TRA should apply the Labor Standards Act to allow us to take a day off like everyone else, but instead we have been forbidden from doing so on grounds that we are ‘civil servants,’” union president Wang Jieh (王傑) said.

The Ministry of Labor has said that workers would be able to take the Sept. 28 holiday off this year, following the Legislative Yuan’s failure to pass regulations that would lead to the elimination of the holiday and several other holidays for workers as part of a five-day workweek policy.

Retirees’ subsidies have ‘no legal basis’

‘UNFAIR’:The use of NT$1 billion of subsidies that was earmarked for the education of retired civil servants’ children is a ‘violation of social justice,’ a government report said

By Cheng Hung-ta and William Hetherington  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

There is no legal basis for retired government employees collecting subsidies for their children’s education, a government report said.

The report by the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said that retired civil servants have been collecting child education subsidies that add up to more than NT$1 billion (US$31.6 million) annually, or 80 percent of the total payouts for the subsidy.

The payouts reached NT$1.41 billion last year, the report said.

It said that the use of the subsidies by retirees has “no legal basis,” adding that the situation should be rectified.

The education benefits are outlined in the Essential Benefits for Nationwide Public Service Employees (全國軍公教員工待遇支給要點), which provides assistance to cover the education costs of working civil servants’ children from elementary school to university. The subsidy provides NT$35,800 per term for private school tuition and NT$13,600 for public school tuition.

The Executive Yuan in 1976 issued a statement about the possibility of allowing retirees to apply for the subsidy, sparking debate at the time.

The number of claimants of the subsidy last year was 69,082, of which 59,868 were retirees, collecting NT$809 million, the report said.

This year’s estimated claims from the Veterans Affairs Council are NT$800 million, comprising 59,727 claimants, it added.

Only government employees can apply for the subsidy, the report said, adding that a civil servant’s connection with the government is severed upon retirement.

It called the granting of the subsidy to retired employees a “violation of social justice.”

Statistics from the Ministry of Education show that there are 914,000 students studying or paying student loans. An average of 319,254 students apply for loans annually, of which 301,664 are college or university students — the rest being high-school students.

The number of students who apply to private schools is four times the number of students who apply to public schools, the statistics showed.

The ministry said it allocates about NT$3 billion annually for subsidies to pay the interest on tuition loans.

Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) said the government has been discussing the subsidy as part of its reform of the pension system, adding that it would prepare a draft bill next year.

“Applications for the subsidy by those currently in office is something that could be considered reasonable, but retirees should not receive it... it is unfair to families carrying the burden of student loans,” New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said, adding that the NPP supports pension reforms that would eliminate disparities in pay and benefits between individuals in the same occupation.

Civil servants all have different backgrounds and are paid according to individual qualifications, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Secretary-General Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said, adding that the investigation must be thorough and not simply change things for the sake of changing them.

“Revisions must be made only after reaching a consensus through prudent and comprehensive investigation to avoid repercussions,” Chiang said.

Railway workers camp at station

CONSIDERATION:Rail workers decided against a strike in the wake of Typhoon Meranti, but are not satisfied with their working conditions, a union president said

By Abraham Gerber  /  Staff reporter

Employees of the Taiwan Railways Administration urge the company to hire more people and provide weekly days off at a news conference at Taipei Railway Station yesterday.

Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times

Railway union members camped out overnight inside the central hall of Taipei Railway Station yesterday, calling for the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) to hire more workers and grant staff regular days off.

About 25 Taiwan Railway Union members sat in silent protest for most of the afternoon in a roped-off corner of the hall surrounded by placards and fliers demanding overtime pay and reduced working hours, hosting an evening “party” with singing and speeches before camping out overnight.

The union had previously claimed it would mobilize more than 70 members for the protest, which came after it backed down on threats that all members would “take the holiday off in accordance with the law” during the Mid-Autumn Festival rush, which usually packs railway services.

The union — which was established last month — is one of several representing railway workers, with young employees comprising the vast majority of members.

“After taking into consideration the influence of [Wednesday’s] typhoon and the transportation needs of the Mid-Autumn Festival, our members decided to keep working, but we hope to use this event to show the TRA that we are not satisfied at all, because they have not given us any specific timeline or plan for changes,” union president Wang Jieh (王傑) said, adding that all participants used regular time off.

Last-minute negotiations on Sunday failed to reach a definite conclusion, with the TRA promising a response within a month, union officials said.

“We do not want the current all-year, night-and-day rest cycle without actual days off,” in which staff work from 8am to 8 pm, take 24 hours off and then again work from 8pm to 8am the following day, “and we do not want the situation where it is not clear whether we are workers covered by the Labor Standards Act, or civil servants” who are not covered, he said.

Workers at train stations take 24 hours off between alternating 12-hour night and day shifts, while being denied regular days off, even though they put in eight hours of work every day, he said.

Wang called on the government to hire additional staff while improving working conditions to reduce turnover, including a full additional “day off” after working two shifts, along with four hours of overtime pay for each 12-hour shift.

Workers are paid 1.8 hours of overtime per shift, he said, adding that counting the additional 2.2 hours as overtime would raise monthly salaries for ordinary workers by between NT$5,000 and NT$6,000.

Workers’ basic salaries average between NT$30,000 and slightly more than NT$40,000, he said.

“Even though the TRA has said that they are making up for gaps, what we on the front lines feel is that the pressure is getting greater, and it is becoming more difficult to take days off,” said Huang Chen-tao (黃辰濤), a locomotive engineer.

Training has been shortened by several years as a result of personnel shortages, Huang said.

Most engineers are unable to take their full annual leave, he added

Service workers not receiving Typhoon holidays: protesters

By Abraham Gerber  /  Staff reporter

Typhoon holidays should be included within the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) to raise awareness of workers’ rights, labor activists said yesterday, adding that many service workers are still forced to go to work despite regulatory guidelines.

“While regulatory guidelines mandate that employers are not allowed to do a number of things, most employers and workers are not aware of the rules. They need to be placed within the Labor Standards Act before employers will pay attention,” Youth Labor Union 95 president Catta Chou (周于萱) said.

Unlike the “national holidays” and “mandatory days off” defined by the Labor Standards Act, “typhoon days” are rooted in regulatory guidelines which mandate that employers cannot require employees to work on declared “typhoon days,” and also forbid the docking of salaries or requiring makeup work.

Labor rights advocates contend that the guidelines are often ignored, particularly in the service sector — where workers are often pressured to work to enable department stores to take advantage of “typhoon day” crowds that turn up when winds are lower than expected.

A group of activists, including Chou, on Tuesday night marched through the Zhongxiao (忠孝) branch of the Pacific Sogo Department Store shouting slogans to protest what they said were widespread violations.

“Stores use fines to require workers to come in on typhoon days. Being absent from your post for just an hour can cost you NT$2,000 and fines just keep piling up from there. Given that clerks earn a little more than NT$1,000 a day, how can they afford these fines,” Chou said.

She called for “typhoon days” to be included within the Labor Standards Act’s definition of “mandatory holidays” entitling workers to double pay and a compensatory day off if they work.

Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment Deputy Director Huang Wei-chen (黃維琛) said the ministry typically receives between 10 and 20 reports of regulatory guideline violations for every typhoon, which are passed on to local government authorities charged with enforcement.

Lawmaker urges power pricing reform

NOT COMPETITIVE:A DPP legislator said that Taipower’s monopoly in the power market must be redressed by liberalization, necessitating the amendment of the Electricity Act

By Chen Wei-han  /  Staff reporter

The nation’s electricity is not reasonably priced, because Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) monopolizes the market and its pricing mechanism is not transparent, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) said yesterday, adding that the electricity market needs to be liberalized.

Gao and National Cheng Kung University law professor Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信), a member of the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ 18-person electricity pricing review committee, held a news conference to speak about what they say are defects in Taipower’s pricing formula.

Fuel costs and personnel expenses factored into the company’s pricing formula are unverifiable, because there is not a unified basis for comparison of Taipower’s management given its monopoly, Hsu said ahead of a committee meeting today.

The formula excludes the costs of “green” power, and Taipower deducts sales of green electricity from the total cost of power generation, lowering the real cost of power generation, Hsu said.

“The revenue from ‘renewable’ energy should be used to establish a ‘green energy fund’ to promote the use of renewable energy and help the nation go nuclear-free,” Hsu said.

The pricing formula stipulates a profit margin of 5 percent, which is acceptable when Taipower is running at a deficit of nearly NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion), but the formula allows a fixed profit margin of 3 percent if it overcomes the deficit, Hsu said.

“The fixed profit margin means Taipower does not have to improve its performance to make a profit,” he said. “All it has to do is adjust power rates.”

A large part of pricing depends on fuel price predictions and inaccurate predictions often result in overpricing, so a price stabilization fund was established. However, there is no specific restrictions on the fund’s use, which might act against the pricing formula, he said.

Those factors prevent Taipower from coming up with a reasonable pricing mechanism, with the company still having a major say over electricity rates, Hsu said.

“All these are caused by the company’s monopoly of the power market, which has to be redressed by liberalizing the market,” Gao said.

Gao said he would put forward draft amendments to the Electricity Act (電業法) to liberalize the market, which he said is a part of transitional justice to break away from state-authorized monopolies.

To boost transparency and improvement, accounting separation has to be in place to identify the costs and revenues associated with different departments of the company.

It will be followed by the separation of power generation and power distribution sectors to deregulate the electricity market, he said.

“Transitional justice can boost GDP, as competition ensuing from market deregulation is expected to improve efficiency in the power industry,” Gao said, in response to former premier Simon Chang’s (張善政) remark that transitional justice does not contribute to GDP.

Taipei City approves labor rights material for schools

By Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

The Taipei City Government yesterday approved a motion to include learning materials it created on labor rights in civic education curricula for high-school students.

Taipei Department of Labor Commissioner Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶) told a news conference that the material was jointly created by her department and the Taipei Department of Education.

A committee of 14 — comprised of union leaders from the banking, legal, media, education, beauty and electronics manufacturing sectors — reviewed the material based on their experience dealing with workers’ rights issues, Lai said.

She said the city government hopes to take the lead in providing high-school students with the knowledge they need to protect themselves against potential infringement of their rights they could encounter when working part-time or participating in internship programs.

The material complements the Ministry of Education’s high-school civic education curriculum, Lai said.

Starting this semester, which began this month, 10th graders at schools that have adopted the materials are to learn about the three basic workers’ rights — the right to form unions, negotiate with employers and protest — as well as the rights entitled to foreign, physically disabled or financially disadvantaged workers in the nation’s diverse and multicultural society, she said.

Also starting this semester, 11th graders will learn about workers’ rights issues, such as the implementation of the “six work days and one rest day” workweek policy and legislative discussions over the “one fixed day off, one flexible rest day,” as well as how the policies could affect people, she said.

Lai said that 39 teachers at 32 schools in Taipei have passed training programs to teach the material and that the city government hopes to boost the number of schools adopting the material to at least 36 one year from now.

Care workers protest subsidies

MISSING OUT:Long-term care workers said that subsidies provided to cover costs excluded families who are looking after severely disabled members themselves

By Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

More than 100 representatives of the National Union of Long-Term Care Development Association and several legislators yesterday gathered at the Legislative Yuan and the Executive Yuan, urging the government to broaden its “long-term care services program 2.0” so that all carers of people with severe disabilities can receive subsidies.

The program aims to expand the provision of long-term care services from about 511,000 people to 738,000 recipients following its implementation next year.

Association representatives — mostly family members of people with severe disabilities — said the 90-hour in-home respite care service is not inclusive enough.

The association said the 90-hour service provides low-income families full subsidies for the provision of care services, low-to-middle-income families 90 percent subsidies and middle-income families 70 percent subsidies.

With professional care services typically costing about NT$200 (US$6.31) per hour, middle-income families can receive about NT12,600 per month toward their costs, but if care is provided by a family member, the family does not qualify for the benefit at all, the association said.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) said the standards for subsidizing low-income and middle-income households with family members at long-term care facilities in the new program must be reviewed.

Low-income households with a family member at a long-term care facility can receive an NT$18,600 subsidy from the government per month, but that is usually insufficient to cover spending on the provision of care, he said.

“Many of the representatives here have to pay long-term care facilities from NT$30,000 to NT$40,000 per month, and that heavy economic burden has worsened their quality of life almost to the level of a low-income household,” association chairman Tsui Lin-hsiang (崔麟祥) said.

Lawyer Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智), said the annual budget for the “long-term care services program 2.0” has been cut from its original target of NT3.3 billion, to the NT$2.08 billion announced by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and then further reduced to NT$1.78 billion by the Executive Yuan.

He urged the government to evaluate the actual cost of the provision of long-term services to provide for the needs of families caring for members with severe disabilities, and allocate a sufficient budget, and prioritize the care of people with severe disabilities.

Chien Hui-chuan (簡慧娟), the director of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Social and Family Affairs Administration, said the new program is designed to offer people more options on long-term care services, as resources in communities are insufficient at present, so much of the budget has been earmarked to address the deficit, including the provision of community health services aimed at preventing diseases or disabilities.

She said the ministry is making an effort to gain more resources to support low-income and low-to-middle income families with people with severe disabilities.