The National Civil Servant Association yesterday demanded that the government roll back policies on educators’ and civil servants’ retirement income replacement ratios and adjust their ratios to match the newly amended replacement ratio ceiling for police officers and firefighters.
The Legislative Yuan on Tuesday passed amendments to the Police Personnel Management Act (警察人員人事條例), raising the maximum income replacement ratio to 80 percent for police officers, firefighters, and members of the coast guard and National Air Service Corps serving 36 years or more.
The pension reforms of 2018 had initially targeted laborers, educators, civil servants and the military, but removed laborers and the military from the reforms, association chairman Kao Shih-nan (高誓男) told a news conference yesterday.
Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Taipei Times
Removing police and firefighters from the reforms while stating that the Labor Pension Fund receiving additional subsidies “was a reform” shows that the reforms are unjust and undermine educators’ post-retirement security, he said.
The reforms have increased vocational confrontation and introduced social discord, he said.
The jobs of civil servants and educators provide social stability and smooth governance, and their pension should see a reasonable guarantee, instead of being reduced year on year, he said, urging the government to review the pension system for the military, civil servants and educators to ensure equality.
A reasonable income replacement ratio would ensure that civil servants and educators would have enough to maintain basic needs post-retirement, he added.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁), who attended the news conference, said the nation would only improve if top-quality talent entered its service.
No one of decent education would want to work in a government where the state bullies its civil servants, and the government stands to suffer if it is managed by officials of inferior quality, he said.
The government has the wherewithal to extend good care to its public servants, he said.
If the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) continues to reduce civil servants’ pensions citing the imminent insolvency of the pension fund, it is evident that the party is not equipped to rule the country and another party should be given an opportunity, he said.
Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) said there is a significant investment-return rate for the pension fund, and the government’s finances are in the green year-on-year, demonstrating full capability to increase the retirement income replacement ratio for civil servants and educators.
The government should reverse its reduction of civil servant and educator retirement income replacement ratios, and amend laws to guarantee the quality of post-retirement life for these two groups, Chang said.
Honorary chairman of the Joint Association for Civil Servants, Educators, Military, Police and Firefighters Liu Sheng-liang (劉盛良) said public servants and educators must receive fair treatment regarding their pensions.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
RSS