More government involvement in daycare is needed to improve working conditions, a caregivers’ union said yesterday, adding that increased subsidies have failed to spur significant changes.
“We demand that the government increase the budget for public daycare, rather than just adding to ineffective subsidies. Subsidies to private schools are like throwing meat after a dog; you do not get anything back in terms of either [work] environment or service,” Alliance of Educare Trade Unions president Chien Jui-lien (簡瑞連) said.
Moreover, private institutions often hike tuition following subsidy increases, Chien said.
Eighty kindergartens applied for tuition hikes after Tainan announced new subsidies in February, with 65 eventually winning government approval, alliance executive secretary Mai Pao-yu (買寶玉) said.
Despite long overtime hours, most kindergarten instructors earn only a little more than the minimum wage, Chien said, calling for an expansion of the scope of labor inspections, making labor rights education mandatory for childcare workers and passing a minimum pension as part of pension reform.
About 35 percent of the nation’s 6,800 kindergartens are public, and the Ministry of Education plans to establish an additional 1,000 public or non-profit kindergartens over the next four years.
Chien called for swifter and broader action to set up these schools, including utilizing idle government land and allowing the establishment of more diverse, small-scale community care.
She panned the Educational Caregivers Act (教保服務人員條例) for not including protection for caregivers’ rights.
“The act is mainly concerned with administrative matters, such as instructor qualification, but does not state how working conditions are to be guaranteed,” she said, calling for compliance with labor regulations to be included in educational agencies’ review of kindergartens.
Increased government focus would increase pressure on kindergartens to comply with labor regulations, while poor reviews would not deny schools access to subsidies under current regulations, she said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it