Labor Groups Protest Kaohsiung Labor Bureau Favoring Employers; Bureau Asserts No Lax in Penalties
Labor unions protested outside the Kaohsiung City Government, accusing the Labor Bureau of favoring employers and leaking whistleblower info. The Bureau refuted this, citing a 28% penalty rate higher than the national average.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 23, 2026 at 14:21
- 🔍 Collected: April 23, 2026 at 14:31 (10 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 23, 2026 at 16:05 (1h 34m after Collected)
Central News (CNA reporter Lin Chiao-lien, Kaohsiung, 23rd) The Kaohsiung Independent Federation of Trade Unions and 22 other unions gathered in front of the Kaohsiung City Government today, criticizing the city's labor policy as "favoring employers and passive in issuing penalties." The Kaohsiung City Labor Bureau responded that the allegations are inconsistent with facts, emphasizing that labor-management dispute mediations are administered according to the law and penalties are not relaxed.
The Kaohsiung Independent Federation of Trade Unions joined 23 unions outside the Kaohsiung City Sihwei Administration Center today to protest the city government's failure to protect workers, betraying them. "Many people report company illegalities but suffer from leaks, which is chilling." About 200 people outside the administration center shouted, "We want confidentiality, we want protection; anti-leaking, anti-covering up, anti-collusion."
Wang Ching-hung, chairman of the Kaohsiung Independent Federation of Trade Unions, said according to Ministry of Labor statistics, the number of labor inspection penalties in Kaohsiung is far less than in Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, etc. Kaohsiung boasts of being a labor city but fails to care for worker safety. Last year, Kaohsiung penalized 613 cases of Labor Standards Act violations, a massive gap compared to Taoyuan's 1,226 cases and New Taipei's 1,745 cases.
Wang Ching-hung said the Labor Bureau often favors employers during labor-management dispute coordinations and even turns a blind eye during labor inspections, mostly substituting penalties with advice. Many people suffer leaks when reporting employers. "The whistleblower just left the Labor Bureau and immediately received a call from the company asking for an interview. If this isn't a leak, what is it?"
TPP Kaohsiung City Councilor candidate Lin Yu-kai stated that city labor inspections have become a formality, even notifying employers before inspections without implementing surprise checks. "How can such a government protect worker safety?"
The unions raised three demands this time, including establishing real-time labor inspection and response mechanisms, strengthening proactive special inspections, and continuously fining and increasing fines for illegal employers. Union representatives urged the city government to promptly propose concrete improvement plans, otherwise they do not rule out expanding protest actions during the election period.
In response, the Labor Bureau replied via text message that handling labor dispute mediations involves legally establishing mediation committees, and the entire process is recorded transparently. Statistics show that in year 114, 3,924 mediation cases were accepted, with a success rate of 71%. It emphasized that if workers or unions have doubts about the process, they can report it for investigation at any time.
Regarding doubts about the low number of penalties, the Labor Bureau stated that the number of businesses and inspection personnel varies greatly among counties and cities. Comparing solely by the number of cases might be distorted; the "penalty rate" should be used to evaluate enforcement effectiveness. According to the Ministry of Labor's annual report data, Kaohsiung's labor conditions inspection penalty rate is 28%, higher than the national average of 21.24%, indicating no passivity in penalizing.
In terms of occupational disaster prevention, the Labor Bureau pointed out that the number of fatal major occupational disasters in Kaohsiung has dropped from 49 in year 109 to 24 in year 114, a decrease of over 50%, and has consecutively won the "Excellent Award" twice in the Ministry of Labor's occupational safety and health performance evaluation. In the future, they will continue to strengthen inspections in high-risk venues and cross-bureau cooperation to enhance workplace safety. (Editor: Huang Ming-hsi) 1150423
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The Kaohsiung Independent Federation of Trade Unions joined 23 unions outside the Kaohsiung City Sihwei Administration Center today to protest the city government's failure to protect workers, betraying them. "Many people report company illegalities but suffer from leaks, which is chilling." About 200 people outside the administration center shouted, "We want confidentiality, we want protection; anti-leaking, anti-covering up, anti-collusion."
Wang Ching-hung, chairman of the Kaohsiung Independent Federation of Trade Unions, said according to Ministry of Labor statistics, the number of labor inspection penalties in Kaohsiung is far less than in Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, etc. Kaohsiung boasts of being a labor city but fails to care for worker safety. Last year, Kaohsiung penalized 613 cases of Labor Standards Act violations, a massive gap compared to Taoyuan's 1,226 cases and New Taipei's 1,745 cases.
Wang Ching-hung said the Labor Bureau often favors employers during labor-management dispute coordinations and even turns a blind eye during labor inspections, mostly substituting penalties with advice. Many people suffer leaks when reporting employers. "The whistleblower just left the Labor Bureau and immediately received a call from the company asking for an interview. If this isn't a leak, what is it?"
TPP Kaohsiung City Councilor candidate Lin Yu-kai stated that city labor inspections have become a formality, even notifying employers before inspections without implementing surprise checks. "How can such a government protect worker safety?"
The unions raised three demands this time, including establishing real-time labor inspection and response mechanisms, strengthening proactive special inspections, and continuously fining and increasing fines for illegal employers. Union representatives urged the city government to promptly propose concrete improvement plans, otherwise they do not rule out expanding protest actions during the election period.
In response, the Labor Bureau replied via text message that handling labor dispute mediations involves legally establishing mediation committees, and the entire process is recorded transparently. Statistics show that in year 114, 3,924 mediation cases were accepted, with a success rate of 71%. It emphasized that if workers or unions have doubts about the process, they can report it for investigation at any time.
Regarding doubts about the low number of penalties, the Labor Bureau stated that the number of businesses and inspection personnel varies greatly among counties and cities. Comparing solely by the number of cases might be distorted; the "penalty rate" should be used to evaluate enforcement effectiveness. According to the Ministry of Labor's annual report data, Kaohsiung's labor conditions inspection penalty rate is 28%, higher than the national average of 21.24%, indicating no passivity in penalizing.
In terms of occupational disaster prevention, the Labor Bureau pointed out that the number of fatal major occupational disasters in Kaohsiung has dropped from 49 in year 109 to 24 in year 114, a decrease of over 50%, and has consecutively won the "Excellent Award" twice in the Ministry of Labor's occupational safety and health performance evaluation. In the future, they will continue to strengthen inspections in high-risk venues and cross-bureau cooperation to enhance workplace safety. (Editor: Huang Ming-hsi) 1150423
Stand with facts, your every sponsorship is the power to guard press freedom
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The text, pictures, and audio-visuals on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, publicly transmitted or utilized without authorization.