Transportation Minister Wang Wishes to Resolve Differences with the Railway Union 端午疏運未解 王國材:盼和工會理性溝通

All Taiwan Railway Administration train services resumed on the 2nd. Transportation and Communications Minister, Wang Kwo-tsai said TRA had managed to get by with the TRA strike on May 1. However, the Taiwan Railway Union said they may go on another strike during Dragon Boat Festival holiday if the government refuses to communicate sincerely.

TRA's Tze-chiang express train No. 170 seemed to have passed Tanzi Station without stopping, but it soon slowed down and backed into the platform. This happened on the morning of the 2nd; passengers suspected that the train was planning on skipping the station. The Taiwan Railway Administration quickly explained that it was because the train had stopped a bit too late, passing the platform so it had to back up into the right position for the stop.

Minister of Transportation and Communications, Wang Kwo-tsai, went to Changhua on the 2nd to check on the development of transfer arrangements between the Changhua High Speed Rail Station and Tienchung Train Station. Wang said TRA had managed to get by with the strike by TRA employees on May 1 during Labor Day Weekend, albeit with some complaints from travelers. He said he would continue to negotiate with the railway union.

Wang Kwo-tsai, Minister of Transportation and Communications: “The needs and wants of the Cabinet are not too far off from the needs and want of the railway union, so I will try to communicate with the union to come to a consensus on settling the differences and work on resolving problems.”

Wang said the reforms to the TRA would continue and that he would work hard on building consensus with lawmakers from different parties. The Taiwan Railway Union says they hope that the government would be willing to communicate with them more before passing new acts. If the government refuses to communicate, the union says they may go on another strike during Dragon Boat Festival holiday.

Chen Shih-chieh, Chairperson, Taiwan Railway Union: “Having mutual trust is an important foundation. We don't want situations that would lead to more resistance. Labor strikes affect society greatly and we do want things to head towards a better direction.”

The railway union is asking the government to take the time to sit down with the union for talks and negotiation in order to build mutual trust. The union says they do not wish to have to launch another strike in the near future.

民眾拍下列車已經通過潭子站，卻又倒退停回月台，事情發生在今日早上，這班開往花蓮的170次自強號被民眾質疑，疑似過站不停，台鐵局趕緊澄清說明，這是因為停車位置不當才退回停妥，旅客上下車後，晚24分開車，至於原因還要了解中。

王國材今日來到彰化，了解高鐵彰化站與台鐵田中站轉乘接駁計畫推動進度。前一天才度過台鐵的五一停駛，王國材表示，民眾雖有小埋怨，但整體狀況來說還OK，也會繼續和工會進行協商。

王國材表示：「行政院版本跟工會版本，事實上現在差距沒有想像那麼大，所以我想說，共識應該建立在這兩個版本，差距把它縮小，這樣比較能夠針對問題做討論。」

王國材表示，改革列車還是會繼續前進，他會繼續努力，在立法院朝野協商前建立起共識。但工會表示，接下來要看政府是否願意願意坐下來溝通再通過條例，如果政府不溝通，工會不排除端午連假再一次合法休假。

台鐵產業工會理事長陳世杰認為：「互信的基礎上，我們還是不希望未來造成比較大的抗拒，因為這種東西（不加班），社會成本還是很大，希望能朝好的方向去進行。」

工會表示，還是要看政府是不是願意跟工會坐下來先談，建立互信後才有討論空間。但如果無法取先溝通，不排除有更大動員凸顯問題，但希望不要走到這步。