Taiwan: Oppose the corporatization of Taiwan Railway! There is an urgent need to rebuild the struggle to correct the mistakes of the leadership of enterprises and workers

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Zuo Ren/Su Xueling International Socialist Road

On May 1st, Taiwan Railway launched an industrial action (because trade union laws make it difficult to formally and legally strike, and trade unions often start by refusing to work overtime), forcing more than 90% of the trains to stop running. Support is still quite high. Fearing that the workers' struggle would gain confidence and organize stronger strikes in the future, the government adopted a "blitzkrieg" strategy to quickly pass the corporatization plan.

With the support of all bourgeois parties, the Legislative Yuan passed the "Regulations on the Establishment of the State-run Taiwan Railway Company" on May 27. The plan completely fails to implement the demands for safety reform and employee rights and interests put forward by the union. In the end, trade union representatives accounted for only one-fifth of the board of directors of Taiwan Railway, which was more conservative than the People's Party's proposal for minor repairs. Even if there is a "safety management committee" responsible for reviewing driving safety, the composition of the committee is determined by the board of directors, and labor representatives have no voice at all. The six demands put forward by the smaller but more fundamental Taiwan Railway Industry Union (referred to as the Industrial Workers), including "safety reform, improved treatment, equal pay for equal work, labor conditions, sustainable management, and industrial democracy" were completely ignored.

Since the Taroko traffic accident last year, these pro-capitalist political parties have been advocating corporatization, in order to allow the consortium they represent to arbitrarily divide the assets of Taiwan Railways, hype the hinterland of the station, and more effectively divide and suppress the power of labor unions.

The struggle is frustrated

Taiwan Railway workers showed their strength in the May 1st Industrial Action. Unfortunately, the leaders of the largest trade union of Taiwan Railway, the Enterprise Trade Union (referred to as Enterprise Workers), chose to betray the grassroots workers. After negotiating with the government on May 18, the trade union accepted the government's empty promises and did not receive any concrete plan, but decided to cancel the strike on the Dragon Boat Festival, which broke down the struggle at a critical time. In a survey conducted by the company on the same day, more than 96% of drivers (train drivers) and many grassroots workers firmly expressed their willingness to respond to strikes on national holidays and election days in the future, which will be larger than the Labor Day strike. The decision-making of the leaders of the enterprise and workers is undemocratic, and this crucial decision was not put to a full vote, which naturally received public thanks from the Minister of Transportation.

The government is now violating its commitment to negotiating with trade unions in an attempt to exclude trade unions from negotiations on sub-laws. The leaders of the enterprise and workers took the initiative to disarm the weapons of struggle at a critical moment, which undoubtedly hit the workers and hindered the opportunity to accumulate resistance. If the leaders of the enterprises and workers did not cancel the Dragon Boat Festival, the labor movement could have escalated the struggle with higher morale and better organization.

Many workers are now questioning whether union leaders really want to lead a strike. Some workers felt angry and discouraged. For example, a worker expressed that he wanted to tear up the non-overtime statement he signed, and many Taiwan Railway workers completely distrusted the so-called "government has goodwill" from the company's workers, and questioned that canceling the Dragon Boat Festival action without overtime would not be able to achieve a truly favorable negotiation. In order to regain the strength of the struggle, the labor movement needs to learn this lesson: trade unions must conduct democratic discussions when major decisions are made, so that leaders are subject to democratic supervision by workers, because small circles of leadership are often faced with huge pressure from management or the government. Make decisions that go against the interests of workers.

At present, the workers of the enterprise are later suspected of being deceived by the government, and the three major trade unions (the enterprise workers, the industrial workers, and the “National Train Driving Industry Union” composed of most of the Taiwan Railway Drivers) have all stated that if the sub-law negotiation excludes the participation of labor unions, they will "Refused to work overtime" on the following national holidays and polling days. Among them, industrial workers continue to push for a "strike" that refuses to work overtime, while preparing for a legal strike as a plan to escalate the struggle. Legal strikes require a lengthy legal process, but unions can gain elective strike and picket powers.

fight for union democracy

The international socialist road continues to support Taiwanese workers in their continued struggle. There is an urgent need to re-prepare a larger and more powerful industrial action to correct the mistake made by the leadership of the enterprise and industry in canceling the Dragon Boat Festival. The Taiwan Railway Trade Union and all workers need to hold a joint meeting, so that workers of different types of work in the Taiwan Railway can obtain the greatest unity, and democratically discuss and decide the next protest plan and appeal. The industrial workers' proposal to build a legal strike to obtain greater strike rights is a plan worth discussing. In addition, holding protests to revive the morale among workers and gain public opinion support is also an important means of resistance. The oppression of Taiwan Railway workers means the oppression of all workers. All workers must support this struggle!

The international socialist road advocates:

1. The oppression of Taiwan Railway workers means the oppression of all workers, and support the Taiwan Railway Union in united struggle

2. Withdraw the corporatization regulations and support all demands of the union

3. Hold a joint meeting of all Taiwan railway workers to democratically discuss and decide on the next struggle plan

4. Hand over the Taiwan Railway to the democratic management of workers, expel bureaucrats and capital from the board of directors

5. Build a workers' party and overthrow the capitalist system that is brewing more Taroko crashes