About 50,000 people took to the streets in Taipei yesterday to vent their anger against a resolution passed by the legislature last month to slash performance bonuses for employees of state-run enterprises.
The protesters — members of the unions of 29 state-run companies and 27 supporting workers’ associations — demanded that the government review the decision to cut their performance bonuses unless their companies make a profit and find an alternative solution.
The Jan. 6 resolution also lowers the ceiling on such bonuses from the current level of 2.6 months’ salary to 1.2 months.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Moreover, the 2011 performance bonuses for staff at the state-run Taiwan Power Co (台電), CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油), Taiwan Sugar Corp (台糖) and Taiwan Water Corp (台灣自來水) must also not be higher than 1.2 months’ salary. Since the 2011 bonuses have already been paid out at the existing rate, employees would have to return the difference, the Legislative Yuan has said.
The decision came amid a public outcry over state employees receiving big bonuses, despite the huge losses incurred by some of their employers.
Taiwan Petroleum Workers’ Union chairman Chuang Chueh-an (莊爵安) yesterday said the Legislative Yuan’s decision was an abuse of the government’s administrative powers.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Chuang said that the “one-size-fits-all” principle utilized in slashing funds across all state-owned companies disregarded the differences between them and nullifiesd the purpose of the performance bonus: giving staff an incentive to work harder.
Chao Ming-yuan (趙銘圓), the executive director of the Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Board (TTWB) factory union, said the legislature had not given enough consideration to the decision.
The TTWB had a pre-tax surplus of NT$12 billion (US$404.9 million) and post-tax surplus of NT$11 billion last year, he said, adding that if it were to slash its bonuses and adhere to a particular ceiling, lower-level workers would have no incentive to improve their performance.
During the protest, Lin Yu-fa (林裕發), head of the Taiwan Sugar workers’ union, launched a campaign to form a political party to defend the rights and benefits of state-run enterprise workers.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2