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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Ministry mulls national holiday on Labor Day
Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun speaks to reporters on the sidelines of a legislative meeting in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA
GENERAL CONSENSUS: Premier Chen Chien-jen on Tuesday asked how the Ministry of the Interior would implement the idea if Labor Day was a national holiday
By Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA
Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Director-General Su Chun-jung （蘇俊榮） yesterday said that he agreed with a proposal by lawmakers to make Labor Day a national holiday.
Labor Day should be observed as a national holiday, just as International Children’s Day is on April 4, Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） Legislator Chuang Jui-hsiung （莊瑞雄） said at a meeting of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.
Under current law, private-sector workers are the only group that get a day off on Labor Day, but some still have to work in tandem with their colleagues, Chuang said, citing the aides of legislators and councilors as examples.
Chuang suggested that the Ministry of the Interior amend Item 2, Article 5 of the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays （紀念日及節日實施辦法） so that Labor Day is observed as a national holiday.
DPP Legislator Chen Chun-yu （陳俊宇） said Premier Chen Chien-jen （陳建仁） on Tuesday also said that the government should mull making Labor Day a national holiday and asked how the Ministry of the Interior would implement the idea if it became policy.
As the competent authority for enforcing the act, the interior ministry said it would solicit opinions from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of National Defense and the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration before delivering a final draft to be approved by the Executive Yuan, Su said.
Separately, Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun （許銘春） said that the Ministry of Labor has observed all due procedures and would inform the Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan within 30 days of the Feb. 16 signing of the Taiwan-India memorandum of understanding （MOU） on migrant workers.
The ministry would introduce a limited number of Indian workers as a trial, Hsu said.
Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） Legislator Alicia Wang （王育敏） accused the labor ministry of lacking transparency on policy and for not holding public hearings.
Nobody opposes finding new sources of labor, but the process of doing so was too rash, Wang said, urging Hsu to face up to the issue and offer an explanation.
DPP Legislator Liu Chien-kuo （劉建國） said the labor ministry did not provide statistics on Indian migrant workers becoming “missing persons” in other nations, adding that the lack of information was worrisome and could lead to more than 100,000 migrant workers going missing in Taiwan.
Workforce Development Agency Director-General Tsai Meng-liang （蔡孟良） said the agency would hold meetings with other government agencies and convene meetings with academics on the MOU, adding that it would forward all reports to the legislature.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
