TAIWAN RAILWAY UNION TO PROTEST OVER "LEGAL HOLIDAY" DISPUTE|春節"依法休假"遭處分 台鐵產業工會今遊行

Members of Taiwan Railway Union who took their legal holiday over the Lunar New Year holiday will hold a protest at the Ketagalan Boulevard this evening. They will gather in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and head to the presidential office to appeal to President Tsai Ing-wen on the issue of overtime work due to an unreasonable shift schedule. The MOTC said that it supports the TRA penalizing the employees who intentionally disrupted railway operations. Some Taiwan Railway Union members took their legal holiday over the Lunar New Year to protest against working overtime. However, Taiwan Railways Administration issued over 370 notices of absence without leave, saying that it will give punishment to those who took time off during the holiday period, after a disciplinary meeting on Feb.16. The TRA's action triggered opposition from the union. The union said they will mobilize 200 employees to protest at the Ketagalan Boulevard on the evening of Feb.9. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications said that they accept that work condition for the TRA must be improved. However, the MOTC still does not approve of the action intended to disrupt railway operations. ==HO CHEN TAN MOTC Minister== For those who asked for leave beforehand, we will decide what punishment they should receive after understanding their reasons for taking time off. However, for those who didn't go through the process to take leave, we will impose punishment based on certain rules. The MOTC said the TRA's shift schedule followed negotiations between workers and management as required by the Labor Standards Act in 1988. Last year, in September, TRA set up a group with its employees, to improve the current shift system. However, after six meetings, they did not reach a consensus. TRU said it is a fact that TRA employees are overworked. They will launch a street protest to protect their rights. ==HSIAO NUNG-YU Taiwan Railway Union Secretary== President Tsai said that we have to be self-reliant. However, when we were self-reliant, we were punished by the TRA. Later, President Tsai said that you can communicate with young people, if they don't listen, then you try again, if they don't listen again, then you pound the table. Therefore, we will hold a protest tomorrow (Feb.9), a symbolic pounding on tables. What we want to do, is to tell the Tsai administration that we have an overwork issue in TRA, and it is very serious. On Feb.9, members of the TRU will gather in front of the MOTC, and head to the presidential office, asking President Tsai Ing-wen to respond to their request. TRU said that they will continue to protest until their working conditions are improved. TRANSLATED BY：ARIEL HSIEH 台鐵產業工會在春節期間發起依法休假，抗議過勞，台鐵針對370多人寄出曠職單，預計在16日開會討論懲處，引發產業工會不滿，號召200名員工，將在週四下午遊行到凱道抗議，但交通部仍強勢表態，表示可以接受持續改善勞動條件，但不會接受惡意影響春節疏運。 ==交通部長 賀陳旦== 凡是有表達請假 完成請假的 我想我們都視同為 他有個別的問題 我們會循程序來了解 那麼如果沒有辦理這些的話 我們就依照相關的程序來處理 交通部指出，台鐵目前排班制度，是在民國77年依照勞基法，由勞資協議決定的，也經過台北市勞工局核備，於法有據。為了回應工會訴求，去年9月台鐵也成立輪班改進小組和員工協商，只是經過六次會議、雙方都沒有共識。對此，台鐵產業工會回應，台鐵員工目前過勞是事實，週四還是會上街頭抗議。 ==台鐵產業工會秘書 蕭農瑀== 蔡英文總統說 要自立自強 我們自立自強之後 竟然就被懲處了 蔡英文總統又說 我們會跟年輕人溝通 一次講不聽 你可以講兩次 兩次講不聽 你可以拍桌 我們明天就會有一個 形式上的拍桌的行動 我們就是要好好的 告訴蔡政府說 我們有這個過勞的問題 已經非常嚴重 產業工會週四下午將會在交通部集結，再步行到總統府前，要求蔡英文總統回應勞工訴求，如果勞動條件沒有改善，未來將會繼續抗爭。 記者 薛宜家 林志堅 台北報導