KMT promises to help teachers in drive to unionize

The National Teachers Associa-tion (NTA) yesterday called on the KMT caucus to press for legal revisions allowing them to form labor unions, while the Examina-tion Yuan pondered lowering interest rates on their savings.

Saying that all occupations should enjoy equal protection, the main opposition party promised to help.

Representatives from the NTA visited the KMT's legislative caucus yesterday morning to seek its support for amendments to labor rules that would permit teachers to organize labor unions. They are prohibited from doing so under existing codes.

NTA leader Liao Chun-jen (廖俊仁) said the proposed overhaul is necessary to safeguard the rights of teachers nationwide.

Fellow petitioner Wu Chung-tai (吳忠泰) agreed, saying that the government failed to consult teachers before proposing scrapping the income tax exemption for soldiers and teachers.

To protest the planned policy change, tens of thousands of teachers are expected to take to the streets on Sept. 28 to mark Teacher's Day, Wu said.

KMT legislative whip Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教) said his caucus was sympathetic to the teachers' grievances and that he and his colleagues would help push for the legislation the teachers were requesting.

"It makes no sense to deny teachers the right to form labor unions when all other occupations are free to do so," Lee told the visitors.

Noting that the proposed restoration of income tax will have a severe impact on members of the armed forces and teachers, he said the KMT will not agree to cut the preferential interest rate on their savings.

Soldiers, teachers and government employees get a fixed interest rate of 18 percent on their savings. The average interest rate on savings for the rest of society is about 2 percent. It costs the government more than NT$40 billion a year in interest payments to these groups.

The TSU has made halving the privileged rate its top task for the next legislative session, arguing that the money should be used on more disadvantaged groups.

The Examination Yuan set up a panel yesterday afternoon to look into the matter.

Recently appointed Examination Yuan member Lee Ching-hsiung (李慶雄) said the government introduced the preferential interest rate years ago when the three groups lived on less competitive wages.

He observed that ensuing rises in their income have long rendered the privileged treatment unnecessary.