The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday finally consented to support Premier Sean Chen (陳冲) in scaling down year-end pension benefits for government retirees at Lunar New Year next year.
With the consensus reached among KMT lawmakers, the legislature is expected to cut the benefits budget of NT$20.2 billion (US$694.1 million), included in the government’s budget statement for next year, to NT$1.14 billion when the budget bill goes to the legislative floor.
The initial budget was to be distributed to 445,708 retirees from the military, the government, public schools and state-owned enterprises who have opted to receive their retirement pensions in monthly installments instead of one lump sum. Every retiree used to receive a bonus equivalent to 1.5 months of their pre-retirement salary ahead of the Lunar New Year, similar to year-end bonuses for active civil servants.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
If the budget is cut as planned, an estimated 42,000 people will still receive the bonus — retirees or the families of deceased retirees who receive a monthly retirement pension of less than NT$20,000 and families of retirees who were killed, injured or disabled in wars, on military exercises or in other public service.
The decision was made at a caucus meeting attended by 60 KMT lawmakers, out of a total of 64.
Speaking after the meeting, KMT caucus whip Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said his caucus “has held in high esteem” retired military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers, and “felt sorry” for them about the decision.
“However, in consideration of the situation the nation is in and its fiscal position, we should cut our coat according to our cloth. We have to make necessary adjustments,” Wu said.
The bonuses for government retirees, the scale of which is decided on a yearly basis, have been in place since 1972, with just a few exceptions where the government suspended their distribution or reduced the size of the bonus when the nation was in financially difficult situations.
In early October, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) raised doubts over the pension system, at a time when Chen appeared reticent to guarantee pensions under the Labor Insurance Fund, which is heading for bankruptcy. This highlighted the long-existing gap between benefits for the ordinary working class and civil servants, a major reason the pension was found not to be justified.
The DPP demanded that the pension system be done away with once and for all on the grounds that the legitimacy of the subsidy is also questionable.
Through the decades, distribution of the bonus was not dictated by law, but was based on a “note” the Cabinet drew up at the end of every year.
Chen only agreed that the proposed limited coverage of the bonus policy will be applicable for this coming Lunar New Year, but he has promised to institutionalize the system by enshrining it in law. He has not given a timeframe.
At the KMT caucus meeting, KMT Legislator Sun Ta-chien (孫大千), whose constituents in Taoyuan County are mostly beneficiaries of the pension, proposed that the caucus hold a secret ballot to decide on the caucus’ stance on the issue — a way in which a rejection of Chen’s reform plan could be engineered.
Sun’s proposal was voted down 11-23. After about 16 lawmakers offered opinions on the issue, with some still voicing opposing views, Wu proposed a motion to support the Cabinet proposal, which was then approved by acclamation.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
One person was killed and another seven injured today when a tourist shuttle bus plunged 30m to 40m down a ravine in Nantou County, the Tourism Administration said. The bus is suspected to have suddenly accelerated out of control near the flower center of the Sun-Link-Sea Forest Recreation Area, a popular attraction during cherry blossom season. Of the eight onboard, a 66-year-old man was killed, four were seriously injured and three sustained minor injuries, including the driver. The Nantou County Police Department said it received a report of the incident at 12:15pm and dispatched seven teams to assist. All surviving passengers have been transferred
RSS