Taipei, Nov. 23 (CNA) Balance is the key element to the search for a "win-win" solution to the relations between labor and management, President Chen Shui-bian said on Thursday.
Chen said that while fighting for their own interests, members of the country's labor sector should also take into account Taiwan's overall economic development and existing bottlenecks faced by both labor and management.
As with an aircraft, which acquires absolute balance for a smooth take-off and flight, balance is an essential factor for a good labor-management relationship, Chen said. He added that only by seeking balance can the labor-management airplane fly as high and far as possible.
The president made the remarks when he met with Father Neil Magill, an Irish priest and labor movement activist who was expelled from Taiwan 11 years ago for his alleged involvement in the local labor movement. He is back in Taiwan at the invitation of the current ROC government.
This is Father Magill's second trip to Taiwan since being forcibly deported in 1989, but it marked the first time that a government official has formally extended an invitation to him.
Magill said that although he no longer lives in Taiwan, he is still concerned about various developments on the island -- including its progress toward democracy.
A missionary priest of the Society of St. Columban, Magill first came to Taiwan in 1980. He learned to speak the local dialect fluently and actively took part in labor and education work.
He established the New Life Workers Center in the northern Taiwan county of Taoyuan in 1984, where he tried to extend care to laborers and blue-collar workers and give them a chance to engage in further adult education.