The labor union for Bowa Commercial Bank (寶華銀行) said it would vote on a strike resolution on Saturday if a new contract agreement is not reached with its custodian, the Central Deposit Insurance Corp (CDIC, 中央存保).
Previous negotiations failed to address job security and other concerns in the wake of a possible auction of the bank next month, the union said in a statement released yesterday.
Jerry Hsieh (
However, CDIC only agreed to suggest that bidders retain a maximum of 50 percent of Bowa employees, with a one-year job guarantee, Hsieh said in a telephone interview yesterday.
In a statement issued yesterday, the union said its demand for a minimum 60 percent employee retention ratio was reasonable, citing the nearly 70 percent retention ratios at the Enterprise Bank of Hualien (
In June, Chinatrust Commercial Bank (
Hsieh said the union would like to continue addressing its concerns to CDIC.
"Our door is always open to the CDIC," he said. "But we need to secure our right to strike to safeguard our jobs in the long run."
Bowa has a total of 1,100 employees at its 39 branches nationwide. The bank has been in state-run CDIC's custody since August after it failed to raise fresh capital to strengthen its financial structure.
Based on Taiwan Ratings Corp's (
CDIC -- which is scheduled to auction off the bank's assets and liabilities on Jan. 31 -- downplayed the union's strike threat yesterday, describing it as a "strategic move" the union is making to increase its bargaining power.
"They [the union] of course have to say that ... It is a gesture they must take to increase their odds for a better deal," CDIC president Johnson Chen (
Chen didn't think the strike threat would jeopardize the bank's auction next month.
"It will be held on schedule," he said, adding that CDIC vice president Wang Nan-hua (
Chen said that any final decision regarding job security would depend on the winning bidder as CDIC could only exercise "moral suasion" to minimize any negative impact on employees.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
RSS