TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Members of the Taiwan Railway Labor Union (TRLU) will work normally during the Mid-Autumn Festival and Double Ten holidays after the government scheduled a salary increase for next year, reports said Wednesday (Aug. 24).
On May 1, a vast majority of Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) staff did not turn up for work in a protest move against government plans to turn the TRA into a state corporation as a response to a string of fatal accidents. Extra bus and high-speed rail services were organized to meet the demand from travelers, with only a minimum service still operating.
However, the Cabinet and the Ministry of Transportation have since shown their goodwill, promising wage hikes for 2023, the TRLU said Wednesday. As a result, the union said it was abandoning plans to ban overtime work by its members during the upcoming holidays in September and October, CNA reported.
On Aug. 1, an estimated 1,300 of TRA’s lowest-paid staff already saw their wages raised to NT$30,000 (US$990) a month, while the employers had also promised to introduce safety bonuses from next Jan. 1, according to the TRLU.
The union said the TRA had planned a salary of increase of NT$2,000, though as it was not clear to which employees it would apply, the TRLU said it would demand that all staff members should benefit.
In addition, existing programs related to family circumstances such as weddings, births, and funerals would continue even after TRA was turned into a state corporation in 2024, the report said. Each time the government raised salaries for the military, civil servants, and teachers, rail workers would also receive an increase, according to the TRLU.
