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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Former toll workers block freeway, climb gantries
Activists protesting for severance entitlements for former freeway toll collectors occupy northbound lanes on the National Sun Yat-sen Freeway in Taipei yesterday, while others sit in a gantry above the road. Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
Hundreds of former toll collectors and their supporters took to a national freeway yesterday to protest against the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, saying the ministry had completely ignored their requests for compensation.
The move came one day after conflict erupted between police and the former toll collectors outside the ministry building in Taipei on Thursday, resulting in injuries on both sides.
Enraged by the response from Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih （葉匡時）, who said the former toll collectors’ actions could not force the ministry to do what it is not authorized to do, protesters threatened to paralyze national freeways.
Four buses carrying protesters were stopped by police at the 15.5km marker on northbound lanes of the National Sun Yat-sen Freeway （Freeway No. 1）.
Subsequently, seven protesters climbed one of the electronic toll collection （ETC） system gantries, with some of them restarting a hunger strike, while other protesters sat on the side of the freeway or chained themselves to the gantry.
Members of the group said they would only be conducting a hunger strike on the gantry and would not disrupt traffic, but they insisted that Yeh come and talk to them or they would continue the hunger strike until they are hospitalized.
In response, Yeh said that the ministry has been working on a number of settlement plans for the former toll collectors.
“These people have already received severance packages based on their seniority,” Yeh said. “They can also receive an additional severance payment equivalent to three to seven months of their salaries. We did not ignore them.”
Instead of engaging in meaningless negotiations with the former toll collectors, Yeh said the government’s responsibility should be to do everything it can to help them find jobs.
He said that some of the former toll collectors have already found ideal jobs, adding that the National Freeway Bureau has helped others work out some employment-related issues.
However, the ministry simply has no way to grant requests that have no legal basis, Yeh said.
Supporters of the former toll collectors have asked why the ministry cannot resolve the case like the Ministry of Labor recently did with former workers of Hualon Corp （華隆）, who were promised that they would receive their pensions in full.
In response, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said the two situations are completely different.
“Hualon workers did not receive any pension fund. However, former toll collectors not only received severance payments, but were also granted additional compensation,” the ministry said, adding that the National Freeway Bureau will not give up on any former toll collectors who have not received proper settlement.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
Former toll collectors occupy a gantry on the northbound side of the National Sun Yat-sen Freeway in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
