Around 200 labor rights protesters call for action on the cost of living and for the return of axed public holidays. Taiwan's labor ministry responded, saying conditions are not as bad as protesters say.
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00:00Around 200 labor rights activists marched to the presidential office with a series of
00:07demands.
00:09They want government action to raise wages, lower prices, including housing prices, and
00:13bring back seven national holidays axed in 2016.
00:17The organizers of this annual labor march, the Autumn Struggle, say turnout this year
00:21is low.
00:23But the march goes on.
00:24We can't afford to buy a house, not to mention the high wages, and our wages.
00:34We want seven national holidays axed.
00:36We want to save 6-7 billion yuan for all Taiwanese business owners.
00:41We want to create real estate and stock markets.
00:44And there are other concerns, especially that companies get away with paying workers below
00:48minimum wage.
00:49They say these workers must do overtime or meet requirements for supplementary pay just
00:54to get to the legal baseline.
00:56The labor ministry, though, says there's a misunderstanding about working conditions
00:59in Taiwan.
01:00After the law was passed, we made sure that every worker could have a 116-day holiday
01:07period.
01:08Workers' wages also went up.
01:09It's not like the outside world's misunderstanding.
01:14There isn't always sympathy outside labor circles, either.
01:18Police warned the marchers twice they needed to keep moving after they unexpectedly stopped.
01:22And there were complaints from ordinary people about the march route.
01:26These two visions of what working in Taiwan is really like don't seem like they'll be
01:29reconciled soon.
01:31Chris Ma and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.