The Cabinet has decided civil servants, military personnel and public school teachers will not get a salary increase next year, Executive Yuan spokesman Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) said yesterday.
Sun said the Cabinet had earlier thought about a salary hike, because the economy was performing well at the time and workers in the private sector were getting pay raises.
However, an analysis of economic data showed that a salary increase was not necessary, he said. Furthermore, the recent economic downturn has prompted the Cabinet to drop the proposal, Sun added.
According to previous Executive Yuan estimates, it would cost the central and local governments about NT$7 billion (US$214.59 million) to raise public sector wages by 1 percent — or NT$21 billion for a 3 percent pay raise.
Public sector workers received a 3 percent wage increase in July 2011 and the central government subsidized local governments with NT$5.27 billion for personnel expenses for the second half of that year.
According to the latest report by the Ministry of Civil Service, local governments’ combined personnel expenses totaled NT$497.9 billion in 2013, which accounted for 47.84 percent of their total expenditures for that year.
Payrolls took up more than half of the total expenditures of the governments of Taipei and Kaohsiung; the cities of Keelung, Hsinchu and Chiayi; and Changhua, Nantou, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, according to the ministry’s report.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
ALL QUIET: The Philippine foreign secretary told senators she would not respond to questions about whether Lin Chia-lung was in the country The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that a business delegation is visiting the Philippines, but declined to say whether Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is part of the group, as Philippine lawmakers raised questions over Lin’s reported visit. The group is being led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) chairman Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) and US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) vice president Lotta Danielsson, the ministry said in a statement. However, sources speaking on condition of anonymity said that Lin is leading the delegation of 70 people. Filinvest New Clark City Innovation Park
DEFENSIVE EDGE: The liaison officer would work with Taiwan on drones and military applications for other civilian-developed technologies, a source said A Pentagon unit tasked with facilitating the US military’s adoption of new technology is soon to deploy officials to dozens of friendly nations, including Taiwan, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is to send a representative to collaborate with Taiwan on drones and military applications from the semiconductor industry by the end of the year, the British daily reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “Drones will certainly be a focus, but they will also be looking at connecting to the broader civilian and dual-use ecosystem, including the tech sector,” one source was
RSS