Firefighters’ Rights and Interests Promotion Association appeals to the New Taipei City Government and proposes three demands for firefighting reform

The Association for the Promotion of Firefighters’ Work Rights and Interests went to the New Taipei City Government this morning to present three demands for firefighting reform, and invited the mayor and councilor candidates to sign, including support for replenishing firefighting manpower, support for increasing off-duty work hours, and improving the occupational safety of firefighters.

Weng Lisi, director of the Association for the Promotion of Firefighters' Work Rights and Interests, pointed out that New Taipei City's firefighting personnel establishment is 3,500, the budgeted position is 2,916, the actual number is 2,553, and there is still a budget shortfall of 363 people. The firefighting population service ratio is 1:1,581. It is required to replenish manpower as soon as possible to avoid the risk of disaster relief that puts the front line into "minimum manpower".

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In addition, starting from next year, firefighters will have to add two more days of rest per month, with the goal of reaching "one day on duty and two days off" in 2012, which means "24 hours on duty and 48 hours off." The Consumer Council requires New Taipei City to "substantially increase the number of days off in shifts" to reduce grassroots working hours, and strictly supervise the scheduling mechanism to protect team members' complete right to rest.

Regarding the occupational safety of firefighters, Weng Lisi said that the current policy of the New Taipei City Fire Department on occupational safety and health is without the participation of grassroots groups in the formulation and inspection. The environment of the department is only based on the specifications of civil servants' offices, and lacks funding and professional assistance. Through a questionnaire survey, the association found out that the "highest priority items" for grassroots team members are the garage exhaust gas collection system, and the "most needed assistance from the fire station" is the airtight storage equipment for firefighting suits, as well as the pollution zoning of firefighting suits and the time system for decontamination, cleaning, and maintenance.

In addition, Shen Weiting, chairman of the New Taipei City Civil Service Association, also put forward five demands, including: 1. Guaranteeing the association’s organization and conference operations; 2. Optimizing the attendance system, implementing the calculation of overtime compensation time minutes and simplifying the overtime process for special projects; 3. Guaranteeing work in transportation and remote areas; 4. Strengthening the participation of grassroots groups in workplace governance; 5. Establishing a cooperation and resource sharing mechanism between the city government and the Civil Service Association, hoping to continue to improve the labor environment of New Taipei City civil servants.

DPP New Taipei City Councilors Shi Yiyou and Chen Naiyu, city councilor candidate Chen Junyan, Kuomintang New Taipei City Councilor Zeng Huanjia’s service team, Green Party New Taipei City Councilor candidate Gan Chongwei, People’s Party New Taipei City Councilor candidates Lin Ziyu, Chen Yijun, Chen Yujie and others attended the press conference today to express support.