Teachers, civil servants and military personnel will not receive a pay raise this year.
Chou Hung-hsien (
These included the consumer price index, pay-scale adjustments in the private and public sectors, the financial condition of the government, as well as inflation and economic growth rates.
Teachers, civil servants and military personnel have had their salaries increased twice over the past seven years. They received a 3 percent increase in 2005 following a 3 percent rise in 2001.
During the same period, salaries in the private sector rose on average by 4.6 percent.
Chou said the CPA would not know whether the government will adjust the pay-scale next year until the summer, when the government's budget estimates for next year will be ready.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (
Meanwhile, next year's Lunar Near Year vacation will run from Feb. 6 to Feb. 11, totaling six days Chou revealed.
Chou disclosed the news in response to a query from DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (
Huang asked Chou whether his administration would establish a system to decide whether to extend national holidays in future.
Chou said they had adopted a set of consistent principles following public outcry over the ministry’s last-minute announcement of an extended vacation for the last Lunar New Year and Moon Festival.
The ministry came under fire after it decided to add one extra day to the Mid-Autumn Festival to turn the vacation into a long weekend so it could connect with the Double Ten National Day, which fell on the following Tuesday. The announcement, however, came 10 days before the holiday break.
Some people believed the decision was a political maneuver aimed at foiling a nationwide strike organized by the campaign to oust President Chen Shui-bian (
Chou later apologized for inconveniencing the public and promised to plan more efficiently next year.
The Ministry of the Interior has also proposed a revision of the Measure Regarding Memorial Days and Festivals (
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