Workers are marching in Taipei on Labor Day, calling for better regulations on working hours, more national holidays and annual leave, as well as protections against workplace bullying. The labor ministry says they are working on strengthening workplace safety protocols and enacting reporting systems for bullying.
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NewsTranscript
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.