Xinhua News Agency, Taipei, May 1 (Reporters Li Jianhua, Jiang Jiang) On May 1, Labor Day, Taiwan’s Labor Party, Labor Human Rights Association and other island political parties held a labor parade on Ketagalan Avenue in front of the offices of leaders of the Taiwan authorities, calling on the authorities to pay attention to labor rights and improve labor treatment.

The theme of this demonstration was "Calling for the Reform of the Labor Insurance and Retirement System" and put forward demands such as "increasing the employer contribution rate for labor insurance" and "comprehensive compulsory insurance for employees of enterprises with less than five people." More than 300 trade union representatives and people from all over the island participated in the event.

At the demonstration site, the people held banners that read "Defend labor rights, raise wages and pensions," held high slogans such as "Reject overwork," "Secure the elderly and increase wages," and chanted slogans such as "Increase retirement benefits and build a welfare and safety society," "Cross-strait reconciliation, peace and anti-war."

The Taiwan Workers’ Party recently issued a statement stating that the Democratic Progressive Party authorities’ economic development orientation focused on the semiconductor and optoelectronic industries has caused the gap between the rich and the poor to widen. The increasing per capita GDP cannot conceal the fact that workers are generally low-paid and people’s lives are miserable. Taiwan’s labor groups are seriously dissatisfied with this.

At the beginning of the event, Wang Wulang, secretary-general of the Taiwan Workers' Party, called on the DPP authorities to stop ignoring workers and implement improvements in labor insurance and retirement; to restart cross-strait dialogue to ensure that peace dividends benefit all; to oppose the expansion of military spending and crowd out grassroots people's livelihood resources; to refuse to sell out people's livelihood and ensure the safety of people's livelihoods.

Hsu Mengxiang, deputy secretary-general of the Taiwan Workers’ Party, said that Taiwan is currently facing serious social contradictions such as an aging population, low fertility rates, and uneven distribution of economic development results. However, the authorities ignore people’s livelihood and insist on investing high amounts of funds in military expenditures, seriously crowding out the budget needed by the people at the bottom such as education, social insurance, and social assistance. All trade unions in Taiwan roared in unison on Labor Day, fully expressing the dissatisfaction of the majority of workers with the current situation of people's livelihood.

During the parade, many representatives from the Taiwan Labor Party and the Labor Human Rights Association issued further appeals to the public through publicity vehicles and street talks. Hsinchu County Councilor Luo Meiwen said that the income of workers on the island is meager. Taiwan holds a May Day parade every year, and the Labor Party continues to participate in mobilization and is deeply disappointed with the current situation.

Liu Xian'e, chairman of the Kaohsiung City Labor Affairs Service Association, made a special trip to participate in the parade. She said that it is urgent to reform the labor retirement system and protect the dignity of workers in retirement. In addition, the current issues of gender equality and workplace bullying in Taiwan's workplace are still serious, and we would like to call on society to pay attention to related issues.

During the march, Xiong Yi, a literature and history researcher at the Labor Human Rights Association, and Luo Guoyong, a villager representative from Hukou Township in Hsinchu County, expressed their concerns about the treatment and protection of workers in Taiwan, and called on the authorities to pay attention to improving the workplace environment and worker well-being.