Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) today said she would submit a motion to redraft proposed amendments that would enable legislators to use budgets for their assistants “at their own discretion,” after a group of legislative assistants protested the bill outside the Legislative Yuan this morning.
Chen last week proposed amendments to the Organic Act of the Legislative Yuan (立法院組織法) that would remove regulations governing lawmakers’ use of their stipends.
Under the amendments, assistants’ budgets — paid for using public funds allocated by the Legislative Yuan — would no longer require receipts, staff registers, upper or lower headcount limits or usage restrictions.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
They would make the allowance originally dedicated to covering the wages, health checkup fees and team building expenses for legislators’ assistants applicable to other affairs, meaning assistants would no longer be “publicly funded.”
So far, 284 assistants from across parties have called for the proposal to be withdrawn.
This morning, they called for the proposal to be withdrawn to protect the rights and interests of legislators’ assistants.
Chen said that the strong reaction to the bill was a positive sign, as her intention was not to incite partisan conflict, but to use the opportunity to improve assistants’ working conditions.
Legislative Assistants’ Union chair Lee Yong-cheng (李永誠), who heads KMT Legislator Lin Shih-ming's (林思銘) office, said that the assistants’ request is simple: They want to keep the current system in place.
Chen and the Legislative Assistants’ Union reached a consensus after almost an hour of discussions at the Legislative Yuan today, Chen, Lee and Wang Chong-chih (王忠智), convener of the union’s board of supervisors, told a media conference after the meeting.
The system for paying legislators’ assistants would not change, Chen said.
The two sides reached an agreement on three issues, she said.
First, they agreed on the important role that assistants play in the legislature, and that their rights and benefits should only improve, not regress, Chen said.
The payment system for assistants’ wages and end-of-year bonuses would not change, nor would their labor insurance, health insurance, retirement fund, birthday bonus, health check stipend or included cultural and recreational activities, she said.
All other employer-employee relations would be handled under the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) and their position would remain publicly funded, she added.
Second, they agreed that the current system has room for improvement, including professional allowances, bonuses for senior assistants, opportunities for career progression and training, welfare measures and participation in additional events and activities, she said.
Third, Chen promised to submit a motion to the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws Committee to revise the original proposal.
She said that she would integrate the union’s suggested amendments into a new draft to replace the prior proposal.
Additional reporting by CNA
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