TEA EGGONOMICS:：The DPP said the government was too stingy to allow a raise that would give people just enough money to buy an additional tea egg each day
By Shih Hsiu-chuan and Loa Iok-sin / Staff reporters
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 - Page 1
Premier Sean Chen yesterday turned down a proposal to increase the monthly minimum wage next year, leading to an announcement by Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) Minister Jennifer Wang (王如玄) that she would step down.
At a meeting of the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, Wang, in tears, announced that she would resign upon learning that Chen had told a press conference in the Executive Yuan in the afternoon that the minimum wage would remain the same, although the minimum hourly wage would be raised.
“I would cordially like to have a talk with her to again express my wish that she stay on and continue her work with us,” Chen said in response to a question about Wang’s resignation.
Chen called the press conference yesterday afternoon to announce his decision on the policy, which has been hotly debated since the council on Aug. 9 presented the minimum wage increase proposal to the Cabinet’s Minimum Wage Review Committee, a mechanism set up to review the salary standard on an annual basis.
Under the proposal, the minimum hourly wage rate would have been increased in two stages — from NT$103 to NT$109 next year and to NT$115 in 2014 — if all conditions allowed, while the minimum monthly wage was to be raised from NT$18,780 to NT$19,047, an increase of NT$267, or 1.42 percent.
However, business representatives opposed the proposal when they were consulted on economy-boosting strategies by the Cabinet, forcing Chen to ask ministers without portfolio Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) and James Hsueh (薛承泰) to review the proposal.
On Monday, Kuan and Hsueh suggested that the Cabinet go ahead with the proposed increase in the hourly wage and postpone the monthly wage raise until the economy improves.
Chen decided to take the advice of Kuan and Hsueh over Wang’s after having held “thorough discussions” over the past two days.
“We agreed to the proposal that the minimum monthly wage should be raised to NT$19,047 as suggested by the council, but that it could only take effect if GDP grows by more than 3 percent for two quarters in a row or the unemployment rate drops below 4 percent for two consecutive months,” Chen said.
Chen said he was confident that the conditions could be met, but he did not set a timeframe, saying that Taiwan, an export-oriented economy, was vulnerable to changes in the global economy.
Asked to respond to criticism by labor groups, who said the government could not even afford to offer them an additional NT$8.9 per day, only sufficient to buy a tea egg, Chen said he felt “sorry” for that, adding: “I am not a cold-hearted person.”
The decision was made with “all factors considered,” Chen said.
Also present at the press conference, Kuan said the decision was good for workers. Theoretically, marginal workers suffer most from increases in the minimum wage because the resulting economic strain would lead to closures of small and medium-sized enterprises that mostly hire low-skilled workers, he said.
“It is not just a theory; I have heard of this situation actually happening,” he said.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) described the decision as “shameful” and described the President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration as “chaotic.”
“It is the government’s responsibility to promote economic growth and lower unemployment rates, but now GDP growth and the unemployment rate are being used as a barometer to decide whether to raise the minimum wage,” DPP spokesperson Wang Min-sheng (王閔生) said.
The minimum wage affects blue-collar workers and the -underprivileged the most, but the government appears to have given up on them, Wang said, adding that Taiwan never posted unemployment rates lower than 4 percent in the months since Ma took office in 2008.
Meanwhile, labor groups accused the Cabinet of only looking out for the interests of businesses and the wealthy.
“The CLA-proposed raise is already too little, but the Executive Yuan cannot even accept a minimal increase in the minimum wage. That’s unacceptable,” National Confederation of Independent Trade Unions executive director Chu Wei-li (朱維立) said.
“This is certainly a Cabinet that only works for the benefits of the capitalists and the employers, and cares nothing about workers’ right,” Chu added.
He said that according to financial statements released by most of the nation’s private enterprises, human resources expenses are only about 10 percent of total costs.
“If the government allows the cost of electricity and gasoline to go up, why not the [monthly] minimum wage?” he asked.
Although the group does not support Wang, Chu said it did not agree with her decision to resign, adding that she should stay to “fight for what she believes in.”
However, Taiwan Labour Front secretary-general Son Yu-lian (孫友聯) praised Wang for resigning.
“I think Wang has done what a good minister should do — leaving the post if she cannot defend her policy decision,” Son said.
“It would do no good if she stays, since it’s President Ma who was behind all these — he should be held responsible for refusing an increase in the monthly minimum wage or planning to allow the use of more foreign workers,” Son added.
As for his opinion on the Sean Chen-led Cabinet, Son added: “This Cabinet is a Cabinet totally for corporations; the ministers should be ashamed to be in a Cabinet that will not even give away enough money to buy a tea egg.”
“I have never seen another government that would overthrow an official decision made by a minimum wage review commission to raise the minimum wage,” he said.
Additional reporting by Chris Wang