Protesters on Monday demanded better wage protections, and improved labor rights for temporary workers and those in the gig economy. Wage issues have been on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration’s agenda since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in 2016, and although minimum and hourly wages have increased since then, advocates say real wages have been heavily affected by inflation and rising housing costs.
An opinion piece published in Forbes on May 19, 2018, said that wages in South Korea and Japan were significantly higher than those in Taiwan, despite similar levels of economic development. Three years later, on Sept. 29, 2021, an opinion piece on news Web site The News Lens made the same argument.
“In South Korea, minimum wage has kept pace with exports and even surged ahead of corporate profits and housing prices, but it has been the other way round in Taiwan,” Roy Ngerng wrote.
He said that wages in Taiwan had been higher than profits until 2002, when wage increases slowed, despite rising profits. He contrasted Taiwan’s situation with that of EU countries, where he said workers shared a fairer percentage of profits.
“If Taiwan’s minimum wage had kept pace over the last two to three decades, or grown at the pace of profits, it could have been twice as high as it is today,” he wrote.
Many companies point to annual bonuses as making up the wage difference, but bonuses are not guaranteed income, and they vary tremendously across industries and between employers.
Regardless, further minimum wage hikes might not be the solution, as information engineer Dino Wei (魏世昌) wrote in an article published on Sept. 10 last year.
“Raising the minimum wage only affects the salaries of workers on minimum wage in the first place, not those on higher wages,” Wei wrote. “The Tsai government needs to figure out how to solve the problems of high commodity prices, high inflation and the rising cost of housing.”
In its report on Monday’s protest, the Central News Agency cited local trade union leader Hsu Chien-tung (許建東) as saying that wages falling behind the rising cost of living is a “national security issue,” one that has led to a declining birthrate and shrinking labor force. This is a plausible assessment given that couples who are struggling financially are much less likely to have children, especially if they have no access to affordable and suitable housing.
Low wages are also a national security issue as China is taking advantage of discontent to sow social unrest, which opposition parties would undoubtedly amplify in an effort to remove the DPP from power. Beijing has already shown its willingness to exploit the issue when it introduced its so-called “31 incentives,” promising jobs and other benefits to young Taiwanese who relocate to China. Such efforts are an attempt to cripple Taiwan’s industries and military.
The government cannot force private industry to raise real wages, but it can offer tax incentives or other benefits to companies that pay workers livable wages. It should also seek ways to offset inflation, tackle runaway housing prices and reduce interest rates for first-time homeowners. One-time vouchers and increases to wages for the lowest-paid workers will not solve Taiwan’s labor woes. The government needs an aggressive and comprehensive approach to the problem.
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