Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday said that the KMT would not sit on its hands while the public suffers from potential price hikes caused by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration’s changes to labor laws, adding that the party’s lawmakers and a think tank are drawing up amendments to fix the problem.
At an afternoon meeting of the KMT’s Central Standing Committee, Hung said action must be taken in light of Premier Lin Chuan’s (林全) remark that the “one fixed day off and one flexible rest day” policy would inevitably lead to a general rise in the cost of living.
Lin said in an interview with the Chinese-language China Times published on Tuesday that the amendment of the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) was aimed at reducing the working hours of employees, but it is impossible that can be achieved without an increase in consumer prices.
Photo: CNA
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has neglected to address issues that surfaced when the government was still debating the feasibility of the changes, Hung said, adding that the controversy is ripping the nation apart.
The DPP elected to adopt the “one fixed day off and one flexible rest day” policy, which increases overtime payments and relaxes annual leave standards in a bid to win the support of young people, Hung said.
However, the policy’s implementation would cause more than 70 percent of workers to suffer the consequences of raised prices for commodities or be laid off, she said.
Hung also blasted what she called the DPP’s double standards on price hikes, citing as an example the widely condemned decision of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration to raise the prices for electricity and natural gas.
“Ma’s administration faced vicious criticism [from the DPP] at the time, but now Tsai’s administration makes price hikes sound like a matter of course. The KMT will not allow the situation to go unchecked and is starting to look into measures that would mitigate the impacts of the legislation,” Hung said.
Taipei Chamber of Commerce director-general Wang Ying-chieh (王應傑), who was invited by the KMT to give a speech about the possible outcomes of the amendments in yesterday’s committee meeting, said the public transportation industry has been the most hard-hit by the policy.
Wang said the industry has arrived at a consensus that it would start hiking ticket prices at the latest after the Lantern Festival next month.
Wang said that the industry estimates an increase of 8 percent in operation costs due to the implementation of the policy, adding that the transportation industry is seeking to adapt by cutting down the total number of shifts employees work and raising ticket prices.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS