TRA DRIVERS MAY TAKE LEGAL TIME OFF DURING MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL|台鐵駕駛連署決議 9/6起依法休假

Mandarin Airlines' Labor Union has reached an agreement with management and decided not to put on strikes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on the 15th of september this year. Meanwhile, the Taiwan Railway Labor Union has reached a consensus that starting from September 6th, they would no longer work overtime, a decision that could potentially affect public transportation during the Festival. On August 1, the TRA Drivers' Association launched a petition, in which 94% of train drivers have agreed that they will not work overtime starting from September 6. The petition has been sent to the Taiwan Railway Labor Union, which will request that the Taiwan Railways Administration re-evaluate work conditions. ==LI RUEI-CIN, Deputy Head, Division for Operation Maintenance== We are working with the Union to adjust drivers' workload. We hope to reach a consensus as soon as possible. The TRA said that train services have been reduced and that it will continue to adjust its service timetables to ensure smooth traffic flows during the Mid-Autumn Festival. However, the Union is not happy that the Minister of Transportation and Communications promised to deliver extra train services during the Festival before the negotiations have come to an end. ==LIU REN-JIE, Secretary-General, Taiwan Railway Labor Union== They can't just give us empty promises. Even if they get way with it this Mid-Autumn Festival, there will always be New Year's Day and Chinese New Year. They have to deal with this problem sooner or later. The Union said that if the TRA does not respond to their request, they will not rule out the possibility of taking legal time off during the Festival. Meanwhile, Mandarin Airlines' labor union which was planning to stage a strike has finally reached an agreement with the company after two days of negotiations. ==WU YAN-HSIEN, Director, Mandarin Airlines Labor Union== We and the company have a lot to discuss, but we both are making compromises. We will work with the company and call off the strikes during the Festival. Mandarin Airlines has issued a statement that it will propose concrete plans over the next few days to address the union's requests. TRANSLATED BY：LUKE CHIANG 台鐵火車駕駛員聯誼會8月1日發起連署，九成四的駕駛員同意9月6日起，依法休假不加班，連署書已送交鐵路工會，工會將行文台鐵要求重新評估勞動條件。 ==台鐵機務處副處長 李瑞欽== 目前我們也是持續 跟工會在做密切的 就整個調整工作班的內容 在持續的檢討 我們也希望在最快的一個 最短的時間內 能夠達成一個共識 台鐵表示目前以縮減5班載客列車和18班貨運列車，將會繼續調整，希望中秋運輸能夠順利，但工會不滿交通部長賀陳旦，在勞資還沒協商完成前，就自行向各界保證台鐵中秋加班服務不打折，認為根本無助勞資協商。 ==台鐵工會秘書長 劉人杰== 這東西不是說你只是畫一個餅 來這樣虛晃一招 中秋節過了沒有關係 完了之後 還有元旦還有春節 接下來年年都有節日 這個東西永遠都是要面對的 工會表示，如果資方沒有具體回應，中秋節不排除"合法休假不加班"。而日前也醞釀罷工的華信航空工會，經過兩天和資方馬拉松式的協商，達成休假日等初步協議。 ==華信工會理事長 吳彥賢== 因為彼此雙方的 認知差距是蠻大的 但是就一直在拉 （中秋)就配合公司 我們全力正常疏運 罷工的活動就會取消 華信航空方面也發表聲明，表示針對企業工會所提訴求，近日內將提出具體方案。 記者 薛宜家 林志堅 台北報導