In opposition to the government selling its shares in the state-controlled Chunghwa Telecom Co (
"We'll launch a long-term strike starting tomorrow [Tuesday] morning, which might last two or three days," Hung Hsiu-lung (洪秀龍), a core member of the Chunghwa Telecom Workers' Union (中華電信工會), said yesterday.
The union has been opposing the government's plan to privatize the telecommunications giant, worrying that their employee pension benefits will be sacrificed.
PHOTO: AFP
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the biggest shareholder in the company, plans to auction off a 3 percent stake to domestic investors today and another 14 percent stake through American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).
This will help reduce the ministry's stake in the company from the current 65 percent to around 48 percent, making Chunghwa Telecom a private entity.
The labor union said it was seeking an injunction from a US court against an additional 13.5 percent sale of the company's equity through ADRs.
"The contracted US attorneys-at-law is to file for an injunction by a US court tomorrow at the latest to freeze Chunghwa Telecom's ADR sale," which Chuang Ping-tang, secretary-general of the labor union, insisted is a violation of the law.
Although the labor union vowed to hold strikes on a larger scale than ever, company officials are unfazed and promised the public that services will continue as normal.
"We are confident that there will only be a small number of employees joining the strike or protesting in front of the company headquarters. Backup personnel will fill the vacant posts to offer services and protect consumers' rights," said company vice-president and spokesman Hank Wang (王漢朝).
Clashes between the union and management dominated and led to an abrupt halt of a meeting held yesterday in Taipei by the company to provide detailed information about the planned after-hours auction of its shares this afternoon.
Around ten union members held posters and signs voicing their opposition against the government's share sales in front of the podium while Wang was briefing scores of interested investors about the benefits of buying Chunghwa Telecom stocks.
"We oppose the heavy-handed manner with which the government wants to sell off national property cheaply, thereby enriching business conglomerates," read the posters, which were also distributed to members of the audience attending the meeting.
Despite the union's repeated efforts to stop the sales, Chunghwa Telecom chairman Hochen Tan (賀陳旦), president Lu Shyue-ching (呂學錦) and several high-level executives have already embarked on a road show in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Europe to promote the company's ADR sales.
Meanwhile, Chunghwa Telecom vice-president Chang Feng-hsiung (
"I guarantee that Chunghwa Telecom will do whatever it can to prevent subscribers' rights from being compromised under any circumstances," he said.
Jonathan Liao (廖俊傑), an analyst with SinoPac Securities Corp (建華證券), said it is expected that the company can successfully be privatized this week, which will help pump nearly NT$100 billion (US$3.14 billion) into state coffers to help the government put a brake on its rising budget shortfall.
But because of the labor union's protest, the company's share price will lose momentum in the short term and do more harm than good, he said.
Chunghwa Telecom shares fell nearly three percent to close at NT$61.5 yesterday on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his