The Ministry of Labor yesterday announced that the minimum monthly wage would rise for a 10th consecutive year next year, although by less than what labor groups had been calling for.
Starting on Jan. 1, the minimum monthly wage is set to increase 3.2 percent to NT$29,500, while the minimum hourly wage would climb by the same percentage, from NT$190 to NT$196, the ministry said.
Both adjustments still require approval from the Executive Yuan, which is expected to be granted.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The announcement followed a review by the Minimum Wage Deliberation Committee, which considered factors including growth in the consumer price index (CPI) and GDP.
The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) recently raised its GDP growth forecast for this year to 4.45 percent, up from a previous estimate of 3.1 percent, citing stronger-than-expected export performance.
The DGBAS also forecast that the CPI would grow 1.76 percent this year.
Labor groups felt the wage increase should have been closer to 4 percent.
They had urged the ministry to raise the minimum monthly wage to NT$29,734 and the minimum hourly wage to NT$198, saying that stronger increases were needed to help workers cope with rising living costs and to ensure they shared in the benefits of economic growth.
Adjustments of that size would better reflect inflation and increase the purchasing power of low-income workers, thereby supporting broader consumer demand, Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions president Tai Kuo-jung (戴國榮) said.
As the salaries of public servants, teachers and military personnel rose by an average of 3 percent this year, the minimum wage should rise by at least the same margin, he added.
Persistent inflation and climbing living costs are eroding real wages, while Taiwan’s economy is forecast to expand by more than 4 percent next year, yet those gains have yet to reach grassroots workers, raising the risk of negative real wage growth and a widening wealth gap, Tai said.
Ahead of yesterday’s meeting, labor groups expressed concern that the government might cite US tariff policy, which imposes 20 percent duties on many goods imported from Taiwan, as a reason to limit the increase.
The wage increase is the second minimum wage hike since President William Lai (賴清德) took office on May 20 last year. The previous eight consecutive increases occurred during the administration of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
RSS