'Sick leave is not a crime'

Taiwan airline workers demand better welfare after flight attendant's death

- Yip Wai Yee Taiwan Correspondent

The atmosphere at the usually buoyant Eva Air Marathon in Taipei was a little different in 2025.

As 24,000 runners waited at the starting line outside the Presidential Office before dawn, dozens of people protested loudly at the side.

"Take leave without fear," they chanted in Mandarin. "Sick leave is not a crime."

The protesters were Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union members, whose schedules in recent weeks have been packed with numerous rallies as they demand improved leave policies in Taiwan's commercial aviation sector.

"There is so much public attention on Taiwan's airline workers right now, so we have to keep the momentum going," the union's secretary-general, Mr Chou Sheng-kai, told The Sunday Times.

"We have to keep people interested in this issue, or things may never change for the better."

The protest on Oct 26 came in the wake of the death of a 34-year-old Eva Air flight attendant surnamed Sun, who had worked on a long-haul flight despite feeling ill, reportedly for fear of repercussions over taking sick leave.

The case has sparked furious public backlash while exposing the aviation sector's punitive leave policies, where flight attendants' performance reviews suffer when they take leave at short notice.

"This is what we are now fighting to change - to get rid of this penalty system for taking leave," said Mr Chou. "Flight attendants are human beings with the right to rest."