The death of a railway driver on the job has reopened a rift between management and the union over the railway company's corporatization.
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00:00By the time paramedics arrived at He Ping train station, it was too late.
00:06A fast local train had failed to leave on time.
00:09And when station staff went to check why, they found the 54-year-old driver slumped
00:13in the cabin with no signs of life.
00:15After the rescue workers arrived, they found the patient lying on the ground in the first
00:19level of the train.
00:20CPR was performed on the scene.
00:25It didn't work.
00:26The cause of death is still uncertain.
00:28But the railway company says this employee had no history of health problems, and had
00:32driven a train earlier in the morning without incident.
00:35The company also says workers' hours are strictly limited, and this driver had a two-hour break
00:40before what would be his final journey.
00:42So overwork is one cause that can be ruled out.
00:58But the railway union says things haven't been the same for workers since a controversial
01:07move at the beginning of the year, a move that corporatized the rail company.
01:11Related or not, the driver's death on the job has renewed focus on the change, and the
01:15new pressure some workers say it's brought.
01:41The union says nearly a year on, the new system still has growing pains, and that a
01:45worker shortage is still a problem.
01:47And this driver's death seems to have reopened a rift between management and the workers
01:51who drive the country's trains.
01:53Leon Lin and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.