The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus yesterday urged the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to support an amendment that would cancel annual bonuses for employees of state-owned businesses if the firms failed to make a profit.
“The KMT has been talking about the same thing. But it seems to be a red herring because the same KMT lawmakers will take advantage of their legislative majority to approve the annual budgets of state-owned companies,” DPP legislative caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) told a press conference yesterday.
Lai said that the DPP would urge the KMT to back amendments to the Civil Servants Guarantee Act (公務人員保證法), which assures employees that, as long as government policies are followed, a year-end bonus would be paid regardless of whether the company makes money.
“I have no idea why employees of these state-owned business es enjoy such generous year-end bonuses, while the rest of us just get NT$3,600 each in consumer vouchers,” DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said.
DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) did not oppose year-end bonuses for employees of state-owned businesses, but she said they should be adjusted to reflect the tough economic times most people are going through.
“How can we justify people earning so much while others are not making any money?” she asked.
The KMT caucus yesterday also demanded that the central government conduct a review of the poor revenues generated by state-owned corporations.
“At a time that state-owned corporations are making losses, they should not take taxpayers’ money to pay for substantial year-end bonuses,” KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said at a press conference.
This year, CPC Corp, Taiwan (中油) employees will earn an extra 4.6 months’ salary as a Lunar New Year bonus, while China Shipbuilding Corp, Taiwan (台船) staff will take home 4.2 months’ extra pay.
Taipower (台電) has announced that its employees will receive a bonus of 4.3 months’ salary, while an employee at Taiwan Sugar (台糖) will take home 4.1 months’ salary.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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