TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A union at the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said Saturday (Dec. 23) it was considering promoting leave during the Lunar New Year holiday because of alleged unfair wages.
As the TRA is about to convert to a state corporation on Jan. 1, staff aside from train drivers have unfair salaries, the union said. Officials said they had started collecting signatures to see if union members wanted to take legal leave for four days during the Lunar New Year holiday, per CNA.
The Feb. 8-14 holiday is the longest vacation period of the year, and will see numerous people traveling across Taiwan for family reunions and tourism. The union emphasized that its members would only seek the four days off they were allowed under the Labor Standards Act.
The union would collect signatures until late January and present the results to a larger union meeting before reaching a final decision in early February. The members’ action would take place Feb. 9-12, the period which includes Lunar New Year’s Day Feb. 10.
The TRA counts 16,000 employees, including more than 1,000 drivers, the union said. There was no immediate reaction to the statements from TRA management, CNA reported.