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Chunghwa Telecom amends employee retirement benefits

Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation's biggest telecom operator, is drafting new retirement packages for employees in the hope of clearing a major hurdle to its privatization plan, company officials said yesterday.

Chunghwa workers have expressed strong opposition to the company's proposed privatization because of differences involving retirement benefits as well as concerns over future job security and salaries.

"We don't expect the new retirement packages to bring about a major breakthrough in our talks with the labor union, but we hope they will help," said Hank Wang (王漢朝), a financial executive at Chunghwa Telecom.

The government failed in a plan to lower its stake in Chunghwa Telecom from the current 65 percent holding to below 50 percent last year. But no timetable has been set for selling more shares either overseas or at home, Wang said.

With the new retirement benefits, half of Chunghwa's 28,000 employees will receive their retirement payments on a monthly basis rather than as a lump sum.

The measure still needs to be approved by the legislature, with revisions to a related law, Wang said.

For retirees under the age of 50, Chunghwa Telecom will encourage them to join a trust fund specially designed to provide employees with stable income returns during retirement, Wang said.

Chunghwa Telecom is also planning to set up a pension fund for its employees, the company said.

Additionally, the phone company said it would offer workers its shares with at least a 10-percent discount, as part of future share-sale plans.
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