Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday proposed raising the minimum monthly wage to at least NT$22,000 — with some pushing for NT$24,000 — after Minister of Labor Chen Hsiung-wen (陳雄文) on Wednesday said that there is room for a further increase on the threshold that is to rise to NT$20,008 in July.
KMT legislators Wu Yu-jen (吳育仁) and Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) told a press conference that they proposed that the minimum monthly wage be raised to at least NT$22,000 — almost NT$2,000 higher than the NT$20,008 that is set to take effect on July 1 from the current NT$19,273.
The labor minister had said in the legislature that the raise in the minimum wage (along with the raise in the minimum hourly wage from NT$115 to NT$120) was decided by the minimum wage review committee last year.
Photo CNA
“I personally consider that there is still room for a further raise, as the estimate for the country’s GDP growth is 3.78 percent,” Chen said, adding that the decision would depend on the review committee’s resolution in the third quarter.
Seven other KMT legislators, including Sun Ta-chien (孫大千), Lin Kuo-cheng (林國正) and Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑), also issued a statement, calling for the increase of the minimum monthly wage to NT$24,000.
They said that they would propose to amend the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) to have NT$24,000 as the minimum, from which any adjustment in the future could only go upward.
The abolishing of the minimum wage review committee would also be one of their proposed amendments to the act, they said, saying that the minimum wage should be reviewed by the legislature regularly in the future, “to lead Taiwan’s workplace out of the 22K curse.”
KMT deputy caucus whip Liao Kuo-tung (廖國棟) said he looks forward to the raise, but it would need the executive departments to table supporting measures.
“The required procedures and supporting measures would need to be in place [for the minimum wage raise], which is another issue. [The KMT caucus] would put first priority on the amendments to the ‘four laws for pay raises,’” Liao said.
The “four laws for pay raises” are the amendments proposed earlier this month by the KMT caucus to the Company Act (公司法), the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act (中小企業發展條例) and the Factory Act (工廠法) requiring enterprises to dole out their surpluses, if they have any, to employees as raises and bonuses.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition