More Public Sector Workers Call for Workplace Protections
Public sector workers from firefighters to prison guards are demanding greater workplace protections.
Transcript
00:00Professional safety is human rights.
00:03The right to fully protect Taichung.
00:07Small but determined, a group of public sector workers
00:10gathers on this grey Taipei morning
00:12to air old grievances and make new demands.
00:14They represent a growing range of public employees
00:17who say they deserve the same health and safety protections
00:19private workers enjoy.
00:21With only a few exceptions,
00:22Taiwan's Occupational Safety and Health Act
00:25does not apply to civil servants.
00:27The government has made some concessions,
00:29at least for the firefighters who kicked this labor movement off
00:32after a fatal factory fire last year.
00:34But one firefighter here says that so far,
00:37changes to the law have been inadequate.
00:39In the face of the local government
00:41not giving us firefighters enough equipment,
00:44there are no penalties.
00:46And there is no mechanism to report and protect whistleblowers.
00:52This is a breach of the law.
00:56Police, legal clerks and others say
00:58they're even more exposed,
01:00and the range of public workers calling for change is growing.
01:03The military and civil servants work as usual.
01:06Today, new allies, prison workers, are on the scene.
01:10They say that like the prisoners they watch,
01:12they aren't allowed air conditioning,
01:13all while having to walk the equivalent
01:15of 15 kilometers a day on patrols.
01:18And they say they face violence from prisoners
01:20and even revenge attacks from those who've been released.
01:23Prison staff have been assaulted
01:24with everything from chopsticks to hot water.
01:27Some are holding weapons,
01:29such as sharp chopsticks.
01:31Or they hide dangerous items on the ground
01:35and grind them into sharp objects.
01:39Anything made of plastic or something hard
01:42can be ground into a weapon.
01:45They hide it on their bodies.
01:46Today, this group has proposed two small changes
01:49to the wording of the Safety and Health Act
01:51that would make it explicitly cover
01:53all public sector workers.
01:55Taiwan Plus reached out to the Labor Ministry's
01:57Occupational Safety and Health Administration
01:59and the Civil Service Ministry
02:01for comment on these changes,
02:02but didn't receive a response.
02:04While turnout has been small today,
02:06this group is trying to put pressure on officials
02:08to make sure the proposal isn't ignored.
02:11Activists here have organized a rally later this month
02:13that they say will be much bigger.
02:16So far this year, 10 police officers,
02:18two firefighters, one judge, one legal clerk,
02:21and one prison worker have died,
02:23either in the line of duty or from suicide.
02:26These protesters plan to mourn their fallen colleagues,
02:28but also to mobilize.
02:30John Su and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.