Premier Jiang Yi-huah said today that he has directed the Ministry of Labor to convene a meeting of the basic wage commission quickly during the current quarter to discuss increases in the national minimum wage.
While receiving representatives from the country's 10 major labor unions, including Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions President Chuang Chueh-an, Jiang said the government sides with the workers and hopes to see reasonable adjustments to the basic wage soon.
"I also hope employers and employees can engage in rational dialogue and find a solution that would make workers happy."
At last year's meeting of the basic wage commission, management and labor both agreed to meet again only if the consumer price index (CPI) rose by 3 percent or more per year, Jiang said. The Executive Yuan respects the committee's decision but said it is necessary to reconsider this precondition because Taiwan's CPI has held steady in recent years and has rarely broken the 3-percent mark.
Furthermore, the extensive composition of the CPI may not truly reflect the burden felt by workers. For instance, during the first seven months of the year, the average food price index, which impacts entry-level laborers most directly, rose over 3 percent compared with the same period last year. For July alone, the food price index jumped 4.27 percent year-on-year.
At today's meeting, Premier Jiang also supported various suggestions made by the union representatives, such as incorporating labor laws into the national education curriculum, bolstering English-language education for workers, and helping professional unions organize on-the-job training programs.
The premier said meetings such as this are a valuable opportunity for him to hear opinions and feedback from all industry segments, and he looks forward to more opportunities to talk to laborers in person. In addition, the Executive Yuan will tackle major labor issues including working hours, temporary workers rights and foreign labor policies in order to improve workers' well-being and foster more harmonious labor-management relations, Jiang said.