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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Toll protesters mock government
Protesting laid-off freeway toll collectors kneel on the Sun Yat-sen Freeway, in Taoyuan County yesterday,as one of the protesters holds up a sign apologizing for blocking the freeway. Photo: Chou Min-hung, Taipei Time
UNCOVENTIONAL APPROACH: Protesters began by using humor in a protest which ended in scuffles with police, as the laid-off workers demanded fair pensions
By Chou Min-hung and Lin Tzu-hsiang / Staff reporters
About 400 former highway toll collectors yesterday rallied outside the Chungli rest stop on the Sun Yat-sen Freeway （National Freeway No. 1）, in Taoyuan County to protest against the government and Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Co, who they say are responsible for their unemployment.
The rally began at 9am, with the crowd of protesters shouting slogans and demanding that the government and Far Eastern take into consideration the period they have been and are to remain unemployed, as the way seniority is assessed has an impact on their pensions.
The protesters also expressed anger that the company failed to deliver on a promise to help them find new jobs after it won a bid to run the electronic toll collection system implemented in January.
At about 9:45am, the protesters stormed a raised area, known as a berm, between the 57km and 53km signs along the freeway’s northbound lane. After placing triangular warning signs, they occupied the two outer lanes, on which some knelt and kowtowed, while others performed skits satirizing what the protesters described as the government’s flawed decisionmaking in contracting the electronic toll system.
The moves seriously disrupted traffic on the national highway, prompting motorists to sound their horns, with some drivers showing their displeasure by giving the demonstrators a thumbs-down.
Members of a self-help group accused the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the National Freeway Bureau of turning a deaf ear to their appeals, which the agencies have said are “legally baseless.” They also demanded a meeting with Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih （葉匡時）.
Saying that their appeals are about seniority compensation, labor insurance reimbursement and diversified job placement, the protesters added that if they do not get a satisfying response from the government, they plan to start a fast on Nov. 20 and launch an even bigger protest on Nov. 28, the day before the nine-in-one elections.
Tensions further escalated when scuffles erupted between protesters and police when several officers attempted to evict protesters lying on the berm at 12:45pm. The police said they had received a number of complaints about the demonstration preventing the flow of traffic.
Bureau Deputy Director-General Wu Mu-fu （吳木富） said it was regrettable that the demonstrators chose to paralyze a national highway, as the move threatened not only the personal safety of the protesters, but also of road users.
He said that committee meetings are being held to formulate plans regarding the placement of the laid-off workers, and that he hoped they could employ more conventional methods of negotiation which would not jeopardize public safety.（Additional Reporting by Kuo Yan-hui）
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
