Perhaps you know.

Those people in blue uniforms streaming out of the gates of industrial parks on their way home are labor.

Those tanned and sweaty people working on steel girders under the hot sun are also labor.

And those nine-to-five paper shufflers in air-conditioned offices are labor, too.

But do you know who in the government is in charge of labor affairs? What agency is responsible for their welfare? In the past, they probably didn't even know the answer themselves.

In fact, a host of agencies at the central, provincial, and local levels have been charged with carrying out a variety of responsibilities more or less related to labor affairs.

"Nobody was very clear about it all in the past, but everyone knows now," says one government worker involved in labor affairs administration.

The reason: the attention given to President Chiang's proposal, made at a meeting of the Kuomintang's Central Standing Committee at the end of last year, to establish an agency in the central government with overall responsibility for labor affairs.

After much discussion, the proposed "Commission of Labor" was finally approved by the Legislative Yuan, for formal establishment this September 1st.

Cheng Shui-chih, director of planning for the Council of Labor, indicates that the new commission will have an organizational structure based on that of the Council of Agriculture and will incorporate the current Department of Labor Affairs in the Ministry of the Interior. The chairman of the commission will be a special appointee. Under him will be eight divisions and three offices, including two new divisions charged with labor insurance and the collection of labor-related statistics. The council will have a much larger budget than the department did, and a staff of 344 as compared to the department's 53.

Because of all the attention attracted by the discussions to set it up, expectations for the new agency are high. But Cheng cautions against overoptimism: "The commission will be established because it has a job to do. But it's not fair to ask a single agency to solve every problem there is."

Huang Yueh-ch'in, a professor of law at National Chengchi University, likens ideal labor-management relations to a balance, with management and labor each set in one scale. And the government? Its role is to act as an arbitrator, maintaining the scale's stability and accuracy.

"Maintaining the scale's accuracy requires a correct system of appeal, arbitration, conciliation, and trial, and this depends on the soundness of the unions and the judicial system."

According to Dr. Huang, the Commission of Labor should provide three general functions. The first is to act as an arbitrator between labor and management in disputes over wages, hours, benefits, and similar issues. The second is to provide job training and vocational guidance to those seeking employment. The third and most important function is the formulation of labor policy, the enforcement of labor laws, and the collection of labor statistics.

What is the most pressing labor problem at present? According to Cheng Shuichih, labor-management disputes. As a result, the first task of the Commission of Labor once it is established will be to resolve those disputes. As to how to do about this, Cheng proposes the implementation of a "labor appeals system": "Setting up channels of communication for labor to talk with employers, unions, and local agencies and asking firms to hold more labor-management meetings so labor can air its grievances."

Dr. Huang believes that the key to good relations between the government and labor is employment services. These include employment placing, occupational training, and unemployment compensation.

Occupational health and safety is another pressing problem, one which also involves environmental protection. The government's manpower for health and safety inspection is insufficient at present: Taipei County has just three inspectors for over 1,000 factories. Once the Commission of Labor is established, manpower in this area will have to be strengthened.

Besides this, the future commission's labor statistics office has been the subject of a great deal of discussion. Why is it so important?

Labor statistics are somewhat different from other statistics. "Other statistics may simply be pure numbers. But statistics on occupational accidents, occupational diseases, and the unemployment rate are directly bound up with people's lives," says Dr. Huang.

"If they're not fabricated, statistics serve as an excellent kind of early-warning device. Factories in West Germany display figures right on the wall as soon as you walk in the door showing how many workers there are in the factory, how many are on duty, how many accidents have occurred at the factory, and how many injuries. A factory like that can warn itself when it is having problems without a government agency constantly looking over its shoulder."

Carrying out an effective labor policy begins with implementing the law, and this will also be a basic job of the new commission. Right now the ROC has ten labor-related laws on the books. Some have been around for a long time and need revising, and some have never been thoroughly carried out. "Imperfect laws can be revised, but before they are, they must be followed, be they good, bad, or indifferent," Cheng says.

The planning office for the Commission of Labor is busy making preparations for setting up the new agency. In response to the numerous tasks and expectations asked of the new commission, Cheng Shuichih remarks, "We're already under way."

[Picture Caption]

The time is near! The establishment of the Commission of Labor is eagerly awaited by the working public.

Occupational training should be one of the important tasks of the Commission. (photo by Ch'iu Sheng-wang)

Employment services will be an important responsibility of the Commissio n of Labor. (photo by Ch'iu Sheng-wang)

"The Commission of Labor is already under way," says Cheng Shui-chih, director of planning for the new agency.

Industrial health and safety conditions affect the environment as well as workers' health.

Occupational training should be one of the important tasks of the Commission. （photo by Ch'iu Sheng-wang）

Employment services will be an important responsibility of the Commissio n of Labor. （photo by Ch'iu Sheng-wang）

"The Commission of Labor is already under way," says Cheng Shui-chih, director of planning for the new agency.

Industrial health and safety conditions affect the environment as well as workers' health.