Educators from New Taipei City’s St John’s University and members of the Taiwan Higher Education Union yesterday staged a protest outside the Ministry of Education in Taipei demanding that the ministry take action beyond imposing fines on the school, which they claimed owed faculty salaries.
Speaking outside the ministry, Lin Po-yi (林柏儀), director of the union’s organization department, said that to force teachers to accept having their salaries cut by half, the university has since August “maliciously” not paid salaries to about 30 teachers who rejected the pay cuts.
As of Monday, the university owed teachers salaries for three months, he said.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
The union estimates that it owes about 30 teachers NT$10 million (US$345,244), he said.
Despite “oppression” by the university, the teachers have continued to hold classes, conduct research and serve the university, he said.
Yesterday marked the third time the union and teachers have demonstrated outside the ministry’s offices, he said.
While the ministry has taken action, it was “not enough,” he said.
The ministry on Tuesday fined the school NT$100,000 for breaching articles in the Teacher Remuneration Act (教師待遇條例) regulating the payment of educators’ salaries and allowances after the school failed to meet the ministry’s Monday deadline for making improvements, according to the union.
The teachers were “very disappointed” with the ministry’s decision, Lin said.
The Private School Law (私立學校法) gives the government the authority to “replace illegal [university] presidents” and to “petition for the removal of illegal [university] board members,” he said. “This is what the Ministry of Education really should do.”
The university in a statement on Tuesday said it did not owe teachers salaries, and that it respected the ministry’s penalty and would continue to negotiate with the teachers.
The protesters carried signs with messages such as “The government only imposed fines,” “The president is not afraid,” and “Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) toughen up,” while shouting similar slogans.
Pan is the minister of education.
Ministry officials who met with the demonstrators said that the ministry would give the university another deadline to “improve,” and that if it still owed salaries, the ministry would place it under “guidance.”
Additional reporting by CNA
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