A panel group under the Economic Development Advisory Conference has decided that a proposal to move to an hourly wage system is simply to hot to handle.
The proposal, called "no work, no pay," would have meant a huge reduction in pay for the nation's workers.
Labor groups were opposed to the measure because workers wouldn't receive compensation for their days off, as they do under the present system.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
In addition, the labor panel said the minimum wage of NT$15,840 for both foreign and local workers should be kept. There were proposals earlier to do away with the wage guarantee.
"It's very difficult for one to survive on the current monthly minimum wage of NT$15,840," said Lin Hui-kwung (林惠官), president of the Chinese Federation of Labor and a participant on the employment panel. "Some workers have to support families on these wages."
Pai Cheng-sheng (
"Besides, if workers lack purchasing power, how can economic development be ensured?" Pai said.
Still, while the panel has taken a hands-off approach to the minimum wage for now, the group said it would urge the Council of Labor Affairs to consider adjusting it in the future.
But no specific proposal as to how the wage should changed was put forth.
For foreign workers, the panel put its weight behind a Council of Labor Affairs proposal to deduct food and rent allowances from their paychecks.
Chen Chu (
The government hopes to implement the plan in September, when NT$2,500 per month will be deducted from workers' paychecks, an amount that will eventually rise to NT$5,000.
By far the issue that had caused the biggest brouhaha yesterday was the proposal to move to an hourly pay system.
In January, a revised version of the Labor Standards Law was implemented, reducing working hours from 48 per week to 84 hours per fortnight.
Because workers are paid for their days off, the change meant that employees were getting an additional six paid hours off per week -- in effect a back-door pay raise.
To avoid giving workers more time off for the same amount of pay, some companies proposed moving to the hourly system.
Chen yesterday said she supported the idea, saying that it was an international trend.
But she later denied, however, that the council supported the shift after her comments angered labor movement officials.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying