The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee will look into the issue of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) workers’ salaries after it receives a list of workers from the party, committee Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said yesterday, while proposing that the committee, the KMT and the workers hold a meeting on the issue.
The KMT last week applied to withdraw funds from its frozen assets to pay its workers, asking for NT$55 million (US$1.7 million), but did not provide a list of party workers to whom the money would be paid.
Speaking in a radio interview, Koo said the KMT had asked for the money to give its workers’ severance pay before the end of this month.
Photo: CNA
KMT party workers on Wednesday petitioned the Taipei Department of Labor for an “enforced negotiation” session over the money owed to them by the KMT, saying they only received half their salary in November and last month due to the freezing of the party’s assets.
Koo said that the committee would welcome the meeting, adding that the meeting could mean a return to the “administrative contract” that Koo and KMT Vice Chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢) had mentioned in their meeting in the middle of last month.
The contract suggested that the KMT agree to the nationalization of the Central Investment Co and Hsinyutai Co, as well to liquidate portions of the firms to finance severance pay for party workers.
Regarding the issue of Broadcasting Corp of China (BCC) and whether it should be regarded as a KMT asset, Koo said he wants to meet with BCC chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) to clarify the issue.
Jaw had previously said that the company had only bought out the broadcasting facilities from Hua Hsia Investment Holding Co, which did not include its real estate, adding that he was not opposed to the property being nationalized.
Taipei labor department official Liang Tsang-chi (梁蒼淇) said the KMT would have 10 days to arrive at a satisfactory resolution for both parties after tendering an application for mass dismissal of party workers.
While the party and its employees had met once, the KMT had not addressed the workers’ questions, Liang said.
The department is in the process of enforcing a settlement and hopes to initiate the meeting before the Lunar New Year, he said.
Meanwhile, the KMT said that its decision to give the committee an inventory of how much the party owed its workers is not in capitulation to the committee’s rules, and that the party stands by its statement that paying wages is a legal responsibility of any company.
The KMT also said it does not agree with Koo’s proposal of liquidating assets from the Central Investment and Hsinyutai to fund severance pay.
Additional reporting by CNA
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