Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: Brian Hioe
ORGANIZED LABOR GROUPS rallied today on Ketagalan Boulevard to commemorate International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day in many parts of the world. While International Labor Day is a public holiday in Taiwan, sometimes this is framed as “Worker’s Day”, as though the day were simply a celebration of workers, rather than having any kind of political meaning. Thousands of workers were in attendance, though International Workers’ Day rallies have declined in size since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo credit: Brian Hioe
Labor groups gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard starting at 12:30 PM, with the formal event starting at 1 PM. Among the unions present were major labor confederations, such as the Taoyuan Confederation of Trade Unions, unions for companies ranging from the Chunghwa Post to Mega Bank and the Taiwan Railways Union, local industry unions, such as the Kaohsiung Petroleum Workers Union and regional unions from Hsinchu, Changhua, and other parts of Taiwan. Some environmental groups, such as the Green Citizen Action Alliance and Taiwan Climate Action Network were present, holding a banner calling for a sustainable energy transition for Taiwan. The Taiwan International Workers’ Association was also there, to represent migrant workers.
Photo credit: Brian Hioe
“Third Force” political parties including the Green Party and New Power Party were present. So, too, was the pro-unification Labor Party, which held banners calling on the DPP to engage in peace negotiations with China and featured party members wearing masks of President Tsai Ing-wen and President-Elect William Lai while holding paper axes.
Photo credit: Brian Hioe
Much of the protest was framed around the actions of the incoming Lai administration. In particular, the Lai administration was called on not to change labor laws to further erode labor protections. In 2018, the Tsai administration cut seven public holidays and changed the work arrangement system in Taiwan so that workers have one set day off per week and one “flexible rest day” in which they can still be made to work. Namely, Lai was premier when these changes to the Labor Standards Act were made and members of his cabinet also played key roles in the Tsai administration, raising concerns that Lai could further amend labor laws.
To this extent, criticisms were leveled at that not all workers have International Workers’ Day off, in that teachers, public servants, police, members of the military, and public sector workers more broadly still have to work. The government was called on to allow members of such groups, which might be referred to as public sector workers in other parts of the world to unionize, in that police and firefighters are not allowed to unionize. While labor movements in other parts of the world have been wary of police unionization, this has not broadly been the case with the labor movement in Taiwan.
Photo credit: Brian Hioe
Moreover, workers called for more protections for those working in hazardous industries, and for improvements in the pension system, in order that workers are provided for when they retire. Speakers at the rally sought to highlight how it is workers who are responsible for Taiwan’s economic successes. Other comments highlighted the risks faced by specific industries, such as medical workers who have especially been overburdened since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two performances took place on Ketagalan Boulevard before workers set out to march around 1:50 PM. In the first, three union members wore masks representing William Lai, DPP legislative caucus whip Ker Chien-ming, and newly appointed Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan, demonstrating the actions that they have taken against workers. Ho was singled out as having played a role in the changes to the Labor Standards Act, even if a new appointee. In the second performance, workers highlighted that this year marked the 40th anniversary of the Labor Standards Act, but the act has many deficiencies. As such, workers symbolically fixed a cardboard cut-out of a house depicting the Labor Standards Act.
Photo credit: Brian Hioe
The march was to the legislature a short distance away, where another stage had been set up. Once there, workers symbolically hit a ball with the colors of the three parties with seats in the Taiwanese legislature–the DPP, KMT, and TPP–to the front of the stage to symbolize how workers sought to call all parties to account.
Representatives of these parties then spoke to close the rally. The three parties spoke in the order that they had responded to the workers. The first was TPP legislative caucus convener Huang Kuo-chang, who criticized the Tsai administration over its changes to the Labor Standards Act, and then passed the microphone to fellow TPP legislator Mạch Ngọc Trân, who was born in Vietnam but naturalized to ROC citizenship, and spoke of the holiday in Vietnam for International Workers’ Day as compared to Taiwan. Second was KMT legislative caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai, who also criticized the DPP, and claimed that the DPP was more busy trying to rig the National Communications Commission than willing to face workers, and claimed that the KMT had a majority in the legislature but a weak one, hence its need for assistance.
Photo credit: Brian Hioe
Hung then jumped off the stage as a show of sincerity to workers. Last was Hung Sun-han of the DPP, previously an environmental activist before becoming a DPP party list legislator, who acknowledged the DPP’s shortcomings and promised to work on them, as well as that he would seek to convey these views to the party, though he was shouted at during his speech. Following the speeches, representatives of the three parties were asked to pose together.
Photo credit: Brian Hioe
The rally finished shortly before 3 PM, then. While rain was anticipated for this afternoon, this was confined to minor drizzles in the afternoon. It is to be seen whether the Lai administration is any more receptive to the demands of labor compared to the Tsai administration, however.