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.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
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ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
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