The minimum wage has sparked heated debate in the nation, including whether to raise the minimum wage on a national level or whether to establish guidelines for differing minimum wages based on region.
Minister of Labor Pan Shih-wei (潘世偉) has said that the ministry would keep the national minimum wage system intact and has denied reports that it has drafted a plan that would allow counties and cities to set their own minimum wages, although he said they can set different living wage levels based on the cost of living in their respective areas.
A living wage is the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs, Pan said.
The US federal government mandates a nationwide minimum wage, while 72 states and municipalities have set minimum living wage levels that are higher than the federal minimum wage, Pan said.
The ministry’s proposal for minimum wages based on region has drawn flak from the heads of several local governments who think such a move could stop skilled workers looking for jobs in the south, widening the wealth gap between rural areas in southern Taiwan and urban areas in the north.
The mayors of Greater Taichung, Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung, as well as labor groups, have publicly expressed opposition to the concept.
Labor groups say the ministry is simply attempting to pass the buck to local governments.
In response, Pan said the measure would not necessarily widen the wealth gap between the south and the north.
Given the relatively low living wage levels in the south, more companies could be willing to set up factories there, which could help buoy the local economy, the minister said.
Noting that implementing a system of living wages is not mandatory and that it would not involve a revision to the law, Pan said the ministry would convene a meeting with representatives of various sectors of society to discuss the proposal.
Meanwhile, two of the newly installed vice chairmen of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) — have offered their suggestions regarding the minimum wage and workers’ rights.
After raising the minimum wage for Taipei City Government temporary workers this month, Hau also urged the central government to increase the national minimum wage this year.
Chu put forward the idea of encouraging employers to share profits with their employees by offering employers preferential tax treatment through tax reforms.
Earlier this year, Chu also proposed giving workers more paid leave.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods