Can Law-Abiding Citizens Tolerate Such a System?

Can Law-Abiding Citizens Tolerate Such a System?
United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC) 
A Translation 
August 19, 2016

Executive Summary: Last month President Tsai Ing-wen met with representatives of the Chinese National Federation of Industries. She said, "My job is not to please people one after the other". Recent events show what she really meant was that the Tsai government will treat ordinary, law-abiding citizens with bureaucratic contempt. Only those able to raise a huge stink, will gain the president's ear. That being the case, expect taxi drivers to follow suit. After all, isn't Uber the result of the government's “regime change”?

Full Text Below:

Toll collectors for the national highway system have been protesting for the past two years. The new government has announced a "special subsidy" in hopes of bringing the protests to an end. The Lin Chuan Cabinet appears to be “adept at martial arts”. But the reality is far simpler than that. Government officials are forcing private companies to throw public money at the problem, hoping it will go away. No particular aptitude is involved. What is particulary objectionable is the government's indifference to the negative impression this is leaving on law-abiding citizens.

The moment Lin Chuan took office, he dropped all charges against the Sunflower Student Movement. Ho Nuan-hsuan caved in to all of the China Airlines flight attendants' demands. As a result, the major concessions Lin Wan-yi and Kuo Fang-yu made to toll collectors came as no surprise. People were initially willing to believe that the government sincerely sought to embody "progressive values". But when it enacted the same script again and again, progressive values became indistinguishable from throwing money at problems and vote buying via public policy. Meanwhile, the government continued to persecute Taiwan fishermen who sailed to Taiping Island to reassert our national sovereignty. The government's alleged “compassion for ordinary folk” and “respect for the working man” have been exposed for what they are -- hypocritical lies.

The general public is mostly sympathetic to the plight of toll collectors for the national highway system. They believe the government should attempt to resolve the problem. Since the toll collectors' chief concern is unemployment, the government should help them find jobs, and not merely provide subsidies. The toll collectors are still of working age. Yet the government claims they are unable to work, and reduced them to the status of recipients of unemployment. This reveals the Ministry of Labour's incompetence.

If we look closer, electronic highway toll collection has led to job losses. For two years, the government has been doling out either subsidies or severance pay. It has also provided job training. Out of 947 toll collectors, 795 have already changed their line of work. The government has provided the 795 toll collectors with 200 million NT in subsidies or severance pay. That is even more incomprehensible. When just over 100 toll collectors protested recently, the government agreed to provide 590 million NT in special subsidies, and promised to provide them to everyone. Such irresponsible scattering of public funds, merely digs the government into a deeper and deeper hole. How can this possibly be considered a reasonable solution?

Providing protesters with generous subsidies is like giving candy to children who throw the loudest tantrum. It penalizes law-abiding citizens who behave reasonably. What fate awaits a nation that penalizes the law-abiding, while rewarding the trouble-makers? What fate awaits the rule of law and public morality?

Consider the Lin Chuan cabinet's logic. The Ma era Ministry of Transportation could not resolve the problem. The new government bypassed the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. It put Lin Wan-yi, a political appointee who heads up health and welfare, and Minister of Labour Kuo Fang-yu, in charge of negotiations. It clearly wanted health and welfare to throw money at the problem until it want away. Lin Wan-yi argued that toll collectors were out of work because of "regime change". Therefore the state must provide them with subsidies. But lest we forget, Lin Wan-yi is charged with pension reform. He used government authority to change the pension system. Based on his logic, military personnel, civil servants, and public school teachers can also cite “regime change” in response to their pension cuts. They too can stage mass protests, and demand that the government compensate them for the loss of their pensions. If so, Taiwan will never know peace.

The government's handling of the toll collectors' protest appears successful. But its flawed logic penalizes law-abiding workers. Negative consequences are inevitable. The government is attempting to showcase its compassion for grass-roots workers. But what people are seeing is officials mercilessly persecuting fishermen who are attempting to reaffirm our nation's sovereignty over Taiping Island. From the fishermens' departure to return, these officials have shown the public the ugly face of bureaucratic indifference. The government claims that out of work toll collectors are suffering. Therefore the government must treat them with compassion, and provide them with special subsidies. But the government refuses to give patriotic fishermen similar subsidies. So be it. But why is the government intimidating down? Why is it hunting them down? Why is it mercilessly punishing them? The contrast reveals the government's hypocrisy, and rips the mask off the government's purported "love for the people".

Last month President Tsai Ing-wen met with representatives of the Chinese National Federation of Industries. She said, "My job is not to please people one after the other". Recent events show what she really meant was that the Tsai government will treat ordinary, law-abiding citizens with bureaucratic contempt. Only those able to raise a huge stink, will gain the president's ear. That being the case, expect taxi drivers to follow suit. After all, isn't Uber the result of the government's “regime change”?

這種治理哲學，如何說服守分公民？
2016-08-19 聯合報

延燒兩年的國道收費員抗爭事件，新政府宣布以「專案補貼」方式使事件落幕。林全內閣看似武功高超，但說穿了一點都不稀奇：官員是拿公帑並逼著企業一起撒錢了事，毫無技巧可言；更可議的是，政府似乎毫不在意此舉會對守本分的公民造成什麼負面影響。

從林全一上任即撤銷對太陽花學運的告訴，及何煖軒對華航空服員罷工的照單全收，林萬億和郭芳煜這次對收費員的大讓步其實在意料之中。第一次，民眾也許願意相信政府確實想表達什麼「進步價值」，但一而再、再而三的雷同演出，所謂進步價值和「花錢消災」或「政策買票」其實已水乳交融，難分難解。倘若再與政府不斷打壓登太平島漁民對照，所有體恤民情、勞工至上的說詞，顯然都變成虛偽的謊言。

一般社會大眾對於國道收費員的處境，多半抱持同情的態度，也認為政府應該積極設法解決。然而，既然「失業」是他們的主要訴求，政府應該做的當然是協助他們找到適合的工作，而不只是消極地發錢或加碼年資以補貼其生活。這些收費員都還在勞動年齡，政府卻否定他們的工作能力，把他們變成失業補助對象；從這點看，勞動部的處理完全難謂稱職。

進一步看，高速公路因電子化而導致收費員失業，兩年多來政府除了發放慰助金或資遣費，也設計了輔導轉業機制；在九四七名收費員中，有七九五人稍早已接受了轉置的安排。更令人費解的是，完成轉置的七九五人，先前政府發放的總慰助經費是二．二億元；而這次政府為滿足最後一百多名抗爭者，竟同意增加五．九億元的專案補貼，還承諾擴及全員。這種作法，除了亂慷全民之慨，也把窟窿越挖越大，能說是合理的解決嗎？

試想，對於抗爭者給予優渥的補貼獎勵，如同「會鬧的孩子有糖吃」，更形同是對沉默守分勞工的變相懲罰。在一個國家中，如果是安分守己的人受到輕蔑及懲罰，而喧騰鬧事的人則受到獎賞，這個社會的法治和倫理要如何建立？

同樣值得討論的，是林全內閣處理這次事件的政策邏輯。或許是鑑於馬政府時代交通部無法解決抗爭問題，這次新政府直接拋開交通部，改由主管社福的政務委員林萬億和勞動部長郭芳煜共同主持協商，這即擺明要用社福的撒錢手段解決此事。林萬億更論證說，國道收費員失業，主要是由於政府「制度改變」，因此國家有必要提供他們補貼。但別忘了，林萬億正在主持「年金改革」，就是企圖用政府的力量來改變年金給付制度。如果他上述邏輯成立的話，那麼軍公教年金一旦遭到縮減，未來是否也可援用「制度改變」的邏輯發動抗爭，要求國家補償他們的年金損失？若然，台灣社會恐將永無寧日了。

無論如何，這次政府處理收費員抗爭，表面上結局圓滿，邏輯卻漏洞百出，處理手法則打擊了安分勞工，留下諸多後遺症。更矛盾的是，政府企圖藉此展現「體恤基層勞工」的姿態，但在另一方面人們看到的卻是，官員對於主動前往太平島宣示主權的漁民百般刁難，從啟程前到返航後，日復一日不斷示以官僚嘴臉壓逼。如果說失業收費員處境困窘，因此政府要特別給予專案補貼照顧，以示憐恤；那麼，政府對愛國漁民不給與油耗補貼也就算了，為何卻一路威逼追懲。兩相對照，所謂「愛民」之說，完全道盡政府兩張臉孔的虛偽。

蔡英文總統上月會晤工總代表時，曾說：「我的工作不是輪流討好誰。」這句話從最近的案例來解讀是：蔡政府對一般百姓是不假詞色的，尤其是守法、守分的公民；除非誰有本事鬧到不可開交，總統才會討好你。那麼，馬上可以跟進效法的就是計程車司機，因為Uber的衝擊湧至，正是政府「制度改變」所致。