Labor groups yesterday accused the Council of Labor Affairs of dragging its feet on raising the monthly minimum wage, even as the agency said it would hold talks to discuss the issue this year.
The Youth Labor Union 95 repeated its call for a minimum wage adjustment meeting to take place as soon as possible and an upward adjustment of NT$2,420 per month — from the current minimum wage of NT$17,280 per month to at least NT$19,700.
“President Ma [Ying-jeou, 馬英九] and the Executive Yuan have always emphasized the importance of an economy built by the common people, but we have seen the Executive Yuan and the council repeatedly delay minimum wage talks,” the group said in a statement.
The minimum wage was last adjusted in 2007.
Liu Yu-hsueh (劉侑學), an executive member of Youth Labor Union 95, said that although many people make more than the minimum wage, an upward adjustment would nevertheless benefit all workers because it is a signal to employers that it is time to raise wages.
“Taking into consideration the rise in the consumer price index and increased productivity in the manufacturing sector, the minimum wage should be raised by 14 percent,” Liu said.
The group also proposed increasing the minimum hourly wage from NT$95 to NT$115, or about 21 percent.
Last month, the council sent a proposal to the Executive Yuan to change the way the minimum wage adjustment meetings are held.
Labor groups said they suspected the government was delaying the annual minimum wage talks on purpose, because even after the council’s proposal is approved, there would still be many steps to complete before the committee can start talks on the minimum wage, such as deciding who would represent each side in the committee.
The council’s proposal calls for the composition of the minimum wage committee to be changed by decreasing the level of government representation to allow more representatives from labor, business and academia.
The move follows criticism that the government gave its own officials a majority of the seats on the committee.
Although the council is not legally bound to hold a minimum wage adjustment meeting every year, it has generally held the meeting every July.
The council has remained tight-lipped about when this year’s wage talks will be held.
Council of Labor Affairs Vice Minister Pan Shih-wei (潘世偉) said the meeting would “definitely” take place this year.
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