Activists from a range of labor and welfare groups yesterday announced the establishment of an “Annuity Pension Reform Alliance,” demanding that presidential candidates commit to reforming national annuity pension systems.
The groups’ demands included that the candidates refrain from making empty promises to increase benefits and establish a “consultation platform” that would allow open and transparent discussion with civic groups.
“If there are no changes, we will probably go from having annuity pensions to not having them, because the nation probably would not be able to stand the pressure,” Taiwan Labor Front secretary-general Son Yu-liam (孫友聯) said, calling on candidates to make a credible commitment to reform, instead of just “buying votes” with promises to increase benefits.
National retirement benefits are currently provided by five separate pension funds. While benefits to the general population are provided through the National Pension and Labor Pension funds, retired military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers each have their own separate funds. In addition, retired farmers also receive monthly allowances from the national budget.
“Political and economic conditions, population trends, national finances and the outlook for economic growth all indicate that the a nation can no longer support the pension annuity system in its present form,” National Taiwan University sociology professor Fu Tsung-hsi (傅從喜) said.
The Alliance for Fair Tax Reform convener Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋) said that the pension fund for military personnel looks set to go bankrupt in 2019, with the labor and public-school teacher pension funds going bankrupt in 2027, and the civil servant fund in 2031.
He called for the review and reform of the different pension funds to be linked, with the goal of more closely integrating the funds to accommodate the inevitable cuts.
The different pension funds provide greatly disparate “guarantees” of financial security to retirees, he said. While the pensions for military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers are equal to between 80 percent to 90 percent of their salaries, benefits offered by the Labor Pension are equal to only 60 percent of workers’ salaries, he said.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS