Labor groups are calling on the government to expand the number of workers who can receive payments under a COVID-19 relief program. That’s as the number of Taiwanese workers on unpaid leave approaches 19,000, the highest figure since 2009.
The current plan is to provide relief payments to 500,000 workers. However, during a Labor Day press conference on Friday, activists said that applications for the payments were coming in quickly, with 50,000 on the first day of the application period alone. They said this could mean that the entire quota for applications will be reached in just ten days.
The labor groups also called on President Tsai Ing-wen to finish several incomplete pieces of labor-related legislation as she begins her second term in office.