TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Chunghwa Post have attempted to allay resentment among employees again after announcing they will have to work regular hours the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday.

Employees at Chunghwa Post were angered after seeing a public notice posted by the delivery service informing customers that regular, time-slot and parcel delivery services will continue operations as usual on Feb. 2. Although speedy delivery services were still arranged to run regularly, others, including registered mail, were supposed to be temporarily halted.

The Storm Media reports postal staff expressed their collective dissatisfaction online, admonishing the company for attempting to detract from their holiday. According to the report, the postal labor union stressed many people had planned to go on vacation and had already bought travel tickets.

If Chunghwa Post is unwilling to negotiate, the union declared, a protest will be staged.

The company’s associate manager Kuo Chun-yang (郭純陽) immediately attempted to rectify the situation by stating staff members will only be asked to voluntarily resume work on the day. Chunghwa attempted to appease angry employees again today (Jan. 17) by stressing it had instructed district managers to respect workers’ decisions and arrange overtime payment for volunteers in accordance with the Labor Standards Act.

However, The Storm notes, employees identified that as long as one person volunteers, others within the sector will be forced to work too, as one person cannot bear the burden of the entire mail operations system.

Chunghwa Post held a press conference today to announce tariff adjustments for parcel delivery and speedy delivery services, which are expected to help the company turn a profit for the first time in 10 years. During the conference, Deputy Director Lee Chu-li (李諸禮) said the company was afraid customers might not get the notice that only speedy delivery services would continue as usual over the holidays, and continue to send perishable items via regular services.

Kuo said those who choose to work on Feb. 2 will receive 1.34 times their regular salary for the first two hours and 1.67 times their regular salary for the third hour and thereafter in accordance with the Labor Standards Act.