Pension contributions and benefits for private-school teachers should be brought into line with those of ordinary workers as part of pension reform, a teachers’ union said yesterday.
“The government’s plan still has not taken into consideration the situation of private-school teachers,” Taiwan Higher Education Union secretary-general Chen Cheng-liang (陳政亮) said. “Reform has now become a process of continually cutting benefits, but that still will not make the system fairer unless we also improve benefits for those worse off.”
The separate pension systems in place for private and public-school teachers have led to dramatically disparate retirement benefits, even though the salaries and responsibilities of both groups are equivalent, he said.
Private-school teachers’ average monthly pensions are below NT$30,000 (US$980), less than half those of public-school teachers, he said.
“The current system has created a situation in which the income replacement ratio for private-school teachers is lower than any other professional category, even ordinary workers,” union researcher Chen Po-chien (陳柏謙) said, calling for the payment rates to be increased from 1.33 percentage points to 1.55 percentage points for each year of seniority.
Extra benefits should be paid for by increasing payments into the fund for private teachers by 50 percent, using additional school and government contributions, he said.
Given the union’s estimates, the government would need to budget an average of NT$1.56 billion per year, with private schools liable for an additional NT$600 million annually, he said.
Kainan University public administration professor Chang Kuo-sheng (張國聖) said linking private teachers’ income replacement ratio with that of ordinary workers would lay the groundwork for integrating private teachers’ pensions with those enjoyed under the National Labor Insurance.
Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said Saturday that she would not be intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), following reports that Chinese agents planned to ram her car during a visit to the Czech Republic last year. "I had a great visit to Prague & thank the Czech authorities for their hospitality & ensuring my safety," Hsiao said on social media platform X. "The CCP's unlawful activities will NOT intimidate me from voicing Taiwan's interests in the international community," she wrote. Hsiao visited the Czech Republic on March 18 last year as vice president-elect and met with Czech Senate leadership, including
Many Chinese spouses required to submit proof of having renounced their Chinese household registration have either completed the process or provided affidavits ahead of the June 30 deadline, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. Of the 12,146 people required to submit the proof, 5,534 had done so as of Wednesday, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. Another 2,572 people who met conditions for exemption or deferral from submitting proof of deregistration — such as those with serious illnesses or injuries — have submitted affidavits instead, he said. “As long as individuals are willing to cooperate with the legal
There have been clear signs of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempts to interfere in the nationwide recall vote on July 26 in support of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators facing recall, an unnamed government official said, warning about possible further actions. The CCP is actively involved in Taiwanese politics, and interference in the recall vote is to be expected, with multiple Chinese state media and TAO attempts to discredit the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and undermine public support of their recall movement, the official said. This interference includes a smear campaign initiated this month by a pro-Beijing Hong Kong news outlet against
A week-long exhibition on modern Tibetan history and the Dalai Lama’s global advocacy opened yesterday in Taipei, featuring quotes and artworks highlighting human rights and China’s ongoing repression of Tibetans, Hong Kongers and Uighurs. The exhibition, the first organized by the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan (HRNTT), is titled “From the Snowy Ridges to the Ocean of Wisdom.” “It would be impossible for Tibetans inside Tibet to hold an exhibition like this — we can do it. because we live in a free and democratic country,” HRNTT secretary-general Tashi Tsering said. Tashi Tsering, a Taiwan-based Tibetan who has never
RSS