The Ministry of Labor yesterday proposed raising the minimum wage by 4.05 percent next year in its efforts to help workers cope with surging inflationary pressure, marking an eighth straight annual increases if it is approved by the Executive Yuan.
It would mean the minimum wage would have surged more than 38 percent since 2016.
The ministry’s proposal came after the Basic Wage Commission concluded that the minimum monthly wage should be increased to NT$27,470 next year from NT$26,400 in response to surging inflation and higher prices of life’s necessities, a ministry statement said.
Photo: CNA
The hourly minimum wage should rise to NT$183 next year from NT$176, it said.
The commission, which is composed of government officials and representatives of workers and employers, believes that employers should share a fairer proportion of economic growth with their employees, the statement said.
About 2.39 million workers would benefit from the increase, the ministry said.
The consumer price index (CPI) last month advanced 2.52 percent year-on-year, exceeding the central bank’s target of 2 percent, as summer vacations drove entertainment costs higher, while bad weather pushed up food prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said.
The minimum wage increase of 4.05 percent is lower than the 6 percent requested by the Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions (全國產業總工會), but the labor association considered a 4 percent increase acceptable.
Local industrial groups yesterday said that the proposed increase greatly exceeded their expectation, as the service sector and exporters are still slowly recovering from the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past three years.
Local businesses are also facing pressures from soaring operating costs and dim economic prospects, General Chamber of Commerce (商業總會) president Paul Hsu (許舒博) said in a statement yesterday.
Geopolitical tensions have also pushed up costs of energy and raw materials, Hsu said.
The chamber is concerned that faster-than-expected minimum wage increases could further stoke inflation, as increased labor costs would add to the already high cost structure, Hsu added.
The Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce (CNAIC, 工商協進會) said that higher labor costs would stoke inflation and therefore lessen the benefits of the rise in salaries.
Local businesses are facing mounting pressure to manage costs, the CNAIC said, adding that they also have to allocate extra spending on carbon emission reductions as fighting climate change becomes a trend and responsibility.
To mitigate surges in operational costs, the CNAIC suggested that the government should consider maintaining electricity rates at a meeting to be held later this month. It also suggested extending the tax breaks on imports of key raw materials.
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