Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Chia-chen (盧嘉辰) yesterday called for changes to the Employee Welfare Fund Act (職工福利金條例). to slash benefits for employees of state-run enterprises.
Lu said he was seeking the support of other lawmakers to file such an amendment in the legislature.
The plan to amend the law follows a public outcry against the massive benefits enjoyed by employees of state-owned companies, in particular oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan, and electricity supplier Taiwan Power Co (Taipower).
Public anger has mounted following CPC’s raising of domestic fuel prices by between 7 and 11 percent on Monday to curb widening losses.
Although the firm is operating in the red, its employees still enjoy massive welfare benefits.
The public is even more furious, as the government is considering raising electricity tariffs to help Taipower, which said it has accumulated losses because of high energy costs.
In addition to the welfare benefits, employees of state-owned companies receive year-end bonuses of up to 4.6 months of their annual salaries.
Lu said the proposed amendment to the Employee Welfare Fund Act would focus on the amount of welfare benefits a state-owned company is allowed to assign to its employees.
It would require state-owned companies to assign 2 percent of the total salaries of their employees as financial benefits, the legislator said.
Current regulations allow state-run firms to assign a fraction of their monthly revenue as welfare funds for their employees.
Once the revision is approved by the legislature, the average benefits for CPC employees for this year would fall to NT$7,800, compared with an estimated NT$48,818 at present, Lu said.
In the case of Taipower, average benefits would drop to NT$5,583, from NT$29,926, he said.
Lu said it was no longer acceptable for loss-making state-owned companies such as CPC and Taipower to disburse massive funds as perks for their employees, as this would only further squeeze their bottom lines.
Moreover, as many state-owned companies are either monopolies or oligopolies, they generate massive revenues, making the current welfare benefit system inappropriate, he said.
He added that the welfare benefit appropriation measures had not been revisited for almost 70 years, and it was time to review the rules.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and