Economic data should guide the government’s adjustments to the salaries of military personnel, civil servants and public school teachers, the National Federation of Teachers’ Unions said yesterday.
Every year in early July, a salary review committee meets to discuss the salaries of military personnel, civil servants and public school teachers, but this year, because of a local COVID-19 outbreak, the federation has not received any news of such a meeting, it said.
These salaries have not been changed in years, it said, adding that just before the outbreak in May, it seemed that the domestic economy was performing well, with the government releasing positive messages about a possible salary adjustment.
Amid the recent COVID-19 outbreak, with everyone focused on preventing the spread of the virus, the matter appears to have been put aside, it said.
Although requesting pay adjustments while a nationwide level 2 COVID-19 alert is in effect might create a certain “social perception,” salary reviews are fundamental in an employee-employer relationship, it said.
Military personnel, civil servants and public school teachers are citizens first, before they are employees of the government, the federation said, adding that these workers give it their all whenever the nation faces difficulty.
There should be a sound system for making adjustments to government employee salaries, which should follow that of other developed countries, it said.
Adjustments should be based on economic data such as the average salary, economic growth rate, consumer price index and the prices of important goods, it said.
There is no system in Taiwan that governs salary adjustments for military personnel, civil servants and public school teachers, it said.
Economic data show that the salaries of employees in these groups have long been unreasonably suppressed, it added.
The salary review committee also lacks transparency, the federation said, adding that it did not know who participates in meetings, what they discuss or what conclusions they make.
As a force for stability in the nation, military personnel, civil servants and public school teachers know that matters involving people’s rights and interests should be dealt with systematically to maintain stability, it said.
With the COVID-19 situation brought under control and level 3 restrictions eased, the government must say when salary constraints for these employee can be lifted, it said.
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