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.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS