The Alliance for Monitoring Pension Reform, a coalition of retired and active-duty military personnel, retired civil servants and public-school teachers, is to disband today because it has accomplished its mission, convener Huang Yao-nan (黃耀南) said yesterday.
The legislature on June 29 passed the Act Governing the Retirement and Pensions of Public-School Teachers and Employees (公立學校教職員退休撫卹條例), part of the government’s efforts to overhaul the nation’s pension systems.
The legislation, which is to take effect on July 1 next year, pushes back the retirement age for government employees and public-school teachers from 50 to 58 and conditionally phases out the 18 percent preferential interest rate for savings accounts of those teachers hired before July 1995, among others.
Retired teachers who joined the pension scheme before July 1995 and who opted to receive monthly pension payments will no longer receive the preferential interest rate from the end of 2020.
Immediately following the bill’s passage, Huang said the Democratic Progressive Party caucus was “butchering” teachers.
He said yesterday that the dissolution of the alliance would be formally announded today, but he vowed to continue the fight for teachers’ pension rights in his role as National Federation of Teachers’ Unions director-general.
Asked whether the decision was made after pension reform protesters disrupted the opening ceremony of the Taipei Summer Universiade on Aug. 19, he said the two events were not unrelated.
In other news, National Civil Servant Association director Harry Lee (李來希) yesterday said he planned to establish a new alliance, the membership of which would not be limited to retired and serving military personnel, public servants or teachers.
The group is to also address a broader range of issues, such as protecting the rights of civic groups, including those opposed to same-sex marriage, he 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
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
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