Labor groups have called on the Ministry of Labor to raise Taiwan’s minimum wage to no less than NT$27,600 next year to counter rising inflationary pressures.
That is a 4.55 percent increase from the current minimum wage of NT$26,400.
The groups made the demand ahead of a meeting of business representatives, labor groups, academics and government officials convened by the ministry’s Minimum Wage Review Committee on Sept. 8.
Photo: CNA
Any increase to the minimum wage would require approval from the Executive Yuan, which almost always follows the committee’s recommendation.
Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions secretary-general Tai Kuo-jung (戴國榮) on Tuesday said that as the consumer price index (CPI) has risen above the 2 percent alert level set by the central bank, the minimum wage should go up by more than that.
Tai blasted some employers for opposing such an increase, saying many Taiwanese workers are feeling the pinch as they earning less than two-thirds of the median wage — the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) definition of “low pay.”
The Taipei based Chinese National Federation of Industries, which represents a majority of business owners in the manufacturing sector, has said it opposed a minimum wage hike of more than 2 percent, while the General Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of China has said it would not accept a rise of more than 3 percent.
Business groups have used slowing global demand to justify a lower minimum wage hike, but Tai said that domestic consumption remained solid despite a decline in exports, which last month dropped on a year-on-year basis for the 11th consecutive month.
Last year, the minimum monthly wage was increased 4.55 percent from NT$25,520 a year earlier to NT$26,400, while minimum hourly pay was hiked 4.76 percent from NT$168 to NT$176.
The revisions to the minimum wage was the seventh since the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who had pledged to raise Taiwan’s monthly minimum wage to NT$30,000 by the end of her second term next year.
Tax revenue data showed that annual median earnings — which includes regular wages and nonregular wages, such as bonuses and part-time pay — in the local industrial and commercial sector stood at NT$506,000 in 2021, up 1 percent from a year earlier, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said.
The DGBAS forecast that Taiwan’s CPI would grow 2.14 percent this year after a 2.95 percent increase last year.
The agency has lowered its GDP growth forecast for next year to 1.61 percent from 2.04 percent.
Committee member Hsin Ping-lung (辛炳隆), an associate professor at National Taiwan University’s Graduate Institute of National Development, said he expects next year’s hike to be more than 2 percent due to expected CPI growth.
Hsin said that while difficulties encountered by the local manufacturing sector due to global demand weakness are likely to be discussed at the Sept. 8 meeting, he still expects a hike of about 3 percent for next year.
Lee Chien-hung (李健鴻), a professor at the Chinese Culture University’s Department of Labor and Human Resources, said that with many manufacturers forecasting improvements in the fourth quarter, Taiwan should implement a minimum-wage hike that is higher than inflation to allow workers to benefit from an expected increase in profits.
Any minimum wage hike would not apply to live-in migrant caregivers and domestic helpers, who are not covered by Taiwan’s Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法).
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