The National Teachers Associa-tion (NTA) yesterday called on the KMT caucus to press for legal revisions allowing them to form labor unions, while the Examina-tion Yuan pondered lowering interest rates on their savings.
Saying that all occupations should enjoy equal protection, the main opposition party promised to help.
Representatives from the NTA visited the KMT's legislative caucus yesterday morning to seek its support for amendments to labor rules that would permit teachers to organize labor unions. They are prohibited from doing so under existing codes.
NTA leader Liao Chun-jen (
Fellow petitioner Wu Chung-tai (吳忠泰) agreed, saying that the government failed to consult teachers before proposing scrapping the income tax exemption for soldiers and teachers.
To protest the planned policy change, tens of thousands of teachers are expected to take to the streets on Sept. 28 to mark Teacher's Day, Wu said.
KMT legislative whip Lee Chuan-chiao (
"It makes no sense to deny teachers the right to form labor unions when all other occupations are free to do so," Lee told the visitors.
Noting that the proposed restoration of income tax will have a severe impact on members of the armed forces and teachers, he said the KMT will not agree to cut the preferential interest rate on their savings.
Soldiers, teachers and government employees get a fixed interest rate of 18 percent on their savings. The average interest rate on savings for the rest of society is about 2 percent. It costs the government more than NT$40 billion a year in interest payments to these groups.
The TSU has made halving the privileged rate its top task for the next legislative session, arguing that the money should be used on more disadvantaged groups.
The Examination Yuan set up a panel yesterday afternoon to look into the matter.
Recently appointed Examination Yuan member Lee Ching-hsiung (
He observed that ensuing rises in their income have long rendered the privileged treatment unnecessary.
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
RSS