Government agencies were at odds yesterday over whether domestic and foreign workers should receive the same minimum wage, as Premier Sean Chen (陳冲) suggested an alternative option was possible.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Council of Labor Affairs have conflicting positions on the hotly debated issue, an issue that was raised by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟).
The ministry has had discussions with business leaders, who favor a lower minimum wage for foreign workers, as well as the council on the “complex issue,” which could involve an amendment to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) said at the legislature.
Council Minister Jennifer Wang (王如玄) said all workers should receive the same minimum wage not only because of the international covenants, but also because it serves the long-term interests of management.
Wang said she would resign if a dual-track minimum wage system were adopted.
Chen said the issue has been a longstanding dilemma and that the government is responsible for taking the opinions of all involved parties into consideration.
“But the fact is that local companies and factories have moved out to seek cheap labor,” he added.
The only feasible solution could be the establishment of a “virtual overseas business area,” which could adopt favorable regulations as those in countries with cheaper labor, for local businesses so companies would keep their investments and job opportunities in Taiwan and the interests of domestic workers would not be compromised, Chen said.
Chen mentioned the planned Kaohsiung Free Trade Zone as an example, although he did not specify if the government planned to experiment with dual-track minimum wage standards in the zone.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching