Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶) yesterday called Taiwan’s low wages “a national disgrace,” and demanded that the government improve working conditions and raise the minimum wage.
Lai was speaking at a news conference at the TPP caucus office at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, which was also attended by representatives of the Taipei Art Creators’ Union and Taipei Confederation of Trade Unions.
Taiwan’s labor conditions fall short with regard to labor insurance, protection for atypical workers, the minimum wage, the health of labor unions and peace of mind for workers, Lai said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The country’s unemployment rate rose to 4 percent after the COVID-19 outbreak last year, causing much hardship, she said.
When the country’s industries complained about the so-called “five resource shortfalls” of land, water, electricity, talent and labor, the government set up a special office to address their needs, she said, adding that workers deserve the same treatment.
The government has to shore up the labor insurance fund before it becomes insolvent, which critics have said could occur in 2026, she said.
The injection of NT$22 billion (US$788.4 million) is not adequate, because the fund’s fiscal woes are worsening due to an aging tax base, she said.
The TPP caucus has proposed that workers be given 14 days of paid leave for child and elderly care per year to ease the burden on working families, which the government should support, Lai said.
The Ministry of Labor should introduce a minimum wage bill as soon as possible, as President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) ran for office on a platform that supported increasing the wages of Taiwanese workers, she added.
The country’s laws do not sufficiently protect creative industry workers from overwork, intellectual property theft or exploitation, Taipei Art Creators’ Union vice president Tu Pei-shih (杜珮詩) said.
Citing a study by her union, Tu said that 48 percent of creators make less than NT$30,000 per month, less than 50 percent of them are enrolled in the labor insurance program and only 27 percent work under a formalized written contract.
TPP Legislator Kao Hung-an (高虹安) said that the party caucus has proposed amendments to the Culture and Arts Reward Act (文化藝術獎助條例), which would bolster the rights of creative industry workers and expand their participation in labor insurance.
Unreasonable regulations are to blame for Taiwan’s low unionization rate, which has remained at 7.6 percent for many years, Confederation of Taipei Trade Unions president Chiu I-kan (邱奕淦) said.
Thirty workers are needed to organize a legally recognized union in Taiwan, which is a more demanding standard than the two workers required in South Korea, seven in Hong Kong and 25 in China, he said, adding that the membership threshold should be lowered.
Other restrictions on the unionization of contract workers and a lack of collective bargaining rights have also severely hindered the growth of industrial unions, he added.
Additional reporting by CNA
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
The Republic of China Army Command yesterday relieved Kinmen Defense Battalion commander after authorities indicted the officer on charges connected to using methamphetamine. The Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Wednesday detained Colonel He (何) after the Coast Guard linked him to drug shipments and proceeded to charge him yesterday for using and possessing crystal meth. The man was released on a NT$50,000 bail and banned from leaving Kinmen, the office said. Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Chen Chien-yi (陳建義) told a news conference yesterday that He has been removed and another officer is taking over the unit as the acting commander. The military
RSS