Labor groups yesterday said key demands for this year’s May 1 labor march would include raising labor pension contribution rates under the new labor pension system to 12 percent, and removing the cap of 45 base units under the old labor pension system.
The goal is to push the government to reform pension systems and provide workers with a more reliable retirement, they said.
Under current law, employers are required to contribute at least 6 percent of an employee’s monthly wage to an individual pension account.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions secretary-general Tai Kuo-jung (戴國榮) said increasing life expectancy and declining birthrates have heightened the risk of poverty among older people.
Tai called for reforms to ensure long-term sustainability, adding that representatives from all three major parties should attend the May 1 march to jointly develop a system that reassures workers about retirement security.
In addition to raising contribution rates and removing the old system ceiling, labor groups are calling for an increase to the Monthly Contribution Wage Scale, broader social insurance coverage, inclusion of migrant workers in the new labor pension system, unified contribution standards across public and private school employees, restoration of seniority-based compensation, and raising contributions to civil servant and teacher pension funds to 15 percent.
Laborer’s Struggle Union deputy president Chu Chia-yun (曲佳雲) said current retirement policies are inadequate, adding that the government has failed over the past two decades to deliver on promises to gradually improve the system.
The government should explain why contribution rates have not increased and consider raising severance pay to 15 months, Chu said.
Confederation of Taipei Trade Unions president Chiu I-kan (邱奕淦) said the Monthly Contribution Wage Scale should be adjusted to narrow the gap between insured wages and actual income.
Migrant workers play a vital role in Taiwan’s industries and should be included in the new system, Chiu added.
Kaohsiung Industrial Union president Lin Shun-chi (林順基) said a parallel march would be held in Kaohsiung alongside the Taipei event, adding that simultaneous actions in northern and southern Taiwan to better highlight workers’ concerns.
Under the old labor pension system, workers accrue two “base units” annually for the first 15 years of service, and one point per year thereafter, up to a maximum of 45 points, which are multiplied by the worker’s average salary at retirement to calculate pension payouts.
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