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- Pingtung's Department of Labor and Youth Development: the youth budget nearly quadrupled while the labor budget fell by more than 20%. Labor comes first in its name
EP17 · Number check
Pingtung's Department of Labor and Youth Development: the youth budget nearly quadrupled while the labor budget fell by more than 20%. Labor comes first in its name
The department's budget for 2023 and for this year, the Ministry of Labor's inspection figures, and the selection record of a NT$430 million building project, set side by side.
- Capability
- Number check
- Published
- Length
- 6:24
- Format
- Long-form (16:9)
Original YouTube title: 屏東勞青處：青年的預算翻了快四倍，勞工的少了兩成多。這個處的名字，第一個字是「勞」
The method behind this video
- Ministry of Labor annual report against the national figure: 25.4% of inspected employers in Pingtung were in violation, against 22.6% nationwide. Pingtung's labor inspections fell from 953 in 2021 (ROC year 110) to 803 last year, down 15.7%, while the national total rose 1.8% over the same period.
- Across counties and years: over the same period Changhua increased inspections by 38% and Yunlin by 20%. Pingtung's average fine per violation was NT$37,500, the lowest among the counties compared. Over three years, labor disputes rose 34% and wage-arrears disputes rose nearly 40%.
- Budget lines year by year: in 2023 (ROC year 112), NT$226 million for labor and NT$44 million for youth; this year, NT$176 million for labor and NT$164 million for youth. Youth funding nearly quadrupled; labor funding fell by more than 20%.
- Reading the three bids in the award notice: the Chaoqing Library and Youth Innovation Space had a budget of NT$430,000,000. The winning bid was NT$429,780,000 and the other two bidders both bid exactly NT$430,000,000, a spread of 5.1 in 10,000. The voice-over says less than 5 in 10,000; calculated from the award amounts, the spread is 5.1 in 10,000.
- Reading the selection record for attendance: of seven committee members, the two external architecture professors were absent, and three of the five present were county government staff. The question is about division of work: why a NT$400-million-plus building project was tendered by the department's Youth Affairs Section.
Transcript
Show transcript
To the workers of Pingtung: over the past few years, do you feel your rights have improved?
Has your pay arrived on time? Has your overtime been calculated properly? On the day you were laid off, did anyone speak up for you?
I don't know your answer, but I do know the county government's numbers.
Every year, the Ministry of Labor's annual report calculates one thing: what share of inspected employers broke the law. Last year Pingtung's figure was 25.4%; the national figure was 22.6%. For every four employers inspected, one was in violation.
So what do you think: should the county inspect more, or less?
Pingtung carried out 953 labor inspections in 2021 (ROC year 110) and 803 last year, a drop of 15.7%. Over the same period, the national total rose 1.8%. Changhua inspected 38% more, and Yunlin 20% more.
For each violation caught, Pingtung fined an average of NT$37,500, the lowest of any county in the south.
More violations. Fewer inspections. Lighter fines. Department of Labor and Youth Development, which of these three numbers counts as your achievement?
Let me tell you about something that happened last year. I was working at a company in Pingtung and ended up in a labor dispute. I did everything a worker can do and applied for mediation. I walked into the mediation room with evidence for seven claims.
At the mediation table, in front of the mediator and me, the other side said: "This person is sick." That already blew up on Threads last time, so I won't embellish it.
The problem fits in one sentence: whatever kind of government you have, that is the kind of business it breeds. Breaking the law costs that little.
Then the mediation failed. The department said it could only help up to mediation; for the rest, go to court yourself. And that was the end of it.
Labor mediation means letting one side hold forth at the table, then telling both parties to go to court on their own, and closing the case.
And I'm someone who can write official letters and look up statutes. The woman who has worked in a factory for twenty years, all those older workers: once they get this far, do you think they still have the strength to write a second letter?
The department's full name is the Department of Labor and Youth Development. One department, two jobs.
The youth half has a "rocket" program, a "passport" program, check-in-for-voucher campaigns and a NT$13 million retrofit. And the labor half?
In 2023 (ROC year 112), the department's budget was NT$226 million for labor and NT$44 million for youth. This year, labor is down to NT$176 million, and youth is at NT$164 million.
The youth budget has nearly quadrupled; the labor budget has fallen by more than 20%. So Pingtung really backs its young people, great job? Is that how it is?
The biggest project on the youth side is the Chaoqing Library and Youth Innovation Space now under construction, at NT$429,780,000, and once again it is handled by the department's Youth Affairs Section.
NT$429 million would cover the department's labor budget for more than two years. And the return? Will it match the department's youth channel, where the latest thirty videos have a median of 24 views?
With over NT$400 million at stake this time, was it again one bidder, one winner? No. This time three companies bid.
The budget was NT$430 million. The top bidder offered NT$429,780,000, just NT$220,000 under, and won. The other two both bid exactly NT$430 million. The gap between the three prices was less than 5 in 10,000.
Now look at who did the selecting. For a NT$430 million building project, there were seven selection committee members. The two outside architecture professors both failed to show up that day.
Of the five people in their seats, three were the county's own staff: two section chiefs from the Public Works Department, and the head of the Department of Labor and Youth Development in person.
The department head leads the organizing agency, so a senior official on the panel is allowed; no problem there. The question is this: isn't Public Works the department that specializes in building things? Why is a NT$400-million-plus library being tendered by the Youth Affairs Section of the labor and youth department, with Public Works section chiefs sitting beside it? And by the way, who outranks whom, a section chief or a department head?
The seismic retrofit at Artisan Town (Zhirenting), a NT$13 million job, was again tendered by the department itself.
The operating contract for Artisan Town drew one bidder and was awarded at 100% of the budget. Ten-odd days, holidays included, and the bid was ready at the speed of light. The Chaozhou project drew three bidders, all priced right up against the budget. That's not what economics taught me.
On the labor side, inspections keep falling and disputes keep rising. Over three years, labor disputes in Pingtung have risen 34%, and wage-arrears disputes nearly 40%.
The money for workers keeps getting cut, and the construction contracts keep getting bigger. Director, why not rename your department the Department of Construction?
Workers of Pingtung: if you have sat at the mediation table and the employer refused, you have to go to court yourself. You think about the job you still need to support your family, and about a lawsuit that could cost who knows how much.
Tell me in the comments. No need for your name; just tell me how long you waited. OK?
When one person says it, it's a complaint. When a hundred people say it, it's data. I'll compile the numbers and put them on our website.
English translation of the Chinese voice-over. Personal names are replaced with job titles or "(name omitted)".
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