The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) might only be able to pay part of its workers’ salaries this month due to lackluster fundraising, according to high-ranking party officials.
The KMT has been dogged by a salary conundrum after its bank accounts were frozen as part of an ongoing investigation into the source of its assets by the Executive Yuan’s Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee, despite managing to pay off its staff’s overdue wages for September and last month using loans taken out by KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), with party officials acknowledging that they might only be able to pay half of this month’s salaries in a worst-case scenario.
Hung late last month borrowed NT$90 million (US$2.8 million at the current exchange rate) to pay workers’ salaries amid a threat by the KMT’s union to stage a protest should the party fail to address the issue.
The loans came from Hon Hai Precision Industry Co and Foxconn chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) and another businessman, who asked to remain anonymous.
The KMT last month launched two fundraising programs in an attempt to assuage its financial straits, but a source familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the amount has raised so far has fallen far short of expectations.
One fundraising drive encourages KMT members to pay a “special party fee” of at least NT$2,000, while the other asks members of the public to donate NT$1,000.
The two programs have generated only NT$10 million and NT$20 million respectively, the source said.
Asked about the possibility of the KMT taking out more loans, one KMT member, who also requested anonymity, said borrowing money has always been a contentious issue in the party, particularly as it has yet to pay off the loans taken out by Hung.
KMT Administration and Management Committee director Chiu Da-chan (邱大展) on Saturday said that the funds raised from the “special party fee” program are insufficient to pay about NT$45 million in party workers’ salaries for this month.
However, the party recently laid out a plan to reduce its workforce, which it sent to the committee with a request for access to a portion of the KMT’s frozen funds to be able to pay the reduced personnel, Chiu said.
The KMT recently also submitted to the Taipei Department of Labor an outline of its plans for employee dismissals, with negotiations with employees scheduled to begin on Wednesday, he added.
According to the plan, 433 staff, or about 58 percent, could face dismissal prior to the Lunar New Year, Chiu said, but added that the party would be unable to execute the plan unless it manages to come up with between NT$150 million and NT$180 million to cover severance payments and retirement packages.
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