Members of the Kuomintang are accusing the government of silencing whistleblowers instead of investigating reports of workplace harassment. There is increased scrutiny of government workplace environments after the death by suicide of an overworkered labor ministry staffer.
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00:00Taiwan's Premier, Chou Rung-tai, apologizes to the family of a Labour Ministry employee
00:04who died by suicide earlier this month.
00:07I would like to express my deepest apologies to the families and citizens of the dead.
00:18An investigation found the employee had been overworked and faced abuse in their department,
00:22regularly working illegal 14- and 15-hour days.
00:26The supervisor was dismissed and the head of the Labour Ministry has since tendered
00:30her resignation.
00:31Premier Chou has ordered an investigation into other workplace bullying incidents.
00:36And President Lai Ching-ch'e also issued a statement, saying that the government would
00:40try to change workplace culture in the country to prevent bullying.
00:44But members of the main opposition, Kuomintang, are accusing government agencies of going
00:48after whistleblowers to prevent scandals from coming to light.
00:51Chou Rung-tai, is this what you call an investigation report?
00:56So your report is about investigating whistleblowers and victims.
01:02Chou Rung-tai, your Green Party is on the move.
01:06So your report is about arresting whistleblowers.
01:12Who else in the country is investigating whistleblowers?
01:19The KMT has called out reports of workplace bullying at the National Museum of Marine
01:23Science and Technology, while another investigation is ongoing into the Centers for Disease Control.
01:29According to a survey on workplace bullying conducted last year, 83 percent of workers
01:33in Taiwan have been bullied on the job, many of them government workers.
01:38The new power party is also calling for more protections, because government employees
01:42don't get the same rights as other workers.
01:49And lawmakers will want to act fast to improve their workplace environments, as they try
01:53to prevent any more tragedies from happening.
01:56Hank Hsu and Tiffany Wong for Taiwan Plus.