Taiwan's labor minister Wang Ju-hsuan has offered his resignation after the Executive Yuan(Cabinet)decided to postpone a plan proposed by the Council of Labor Affairs(CLA)to raise the minimum wage for employed workers in 2013.
According to CLA's proposals,the minimum monthly wage should be adjusted to NT$19,047(US$645.73)in 2013 from NT$18,780 set for 2012.But the Cabinet agreed only to adjust the minimum hourly wage to NT$109(US$3.70)from NT$103,starting January 1,2013.
However,the government said it will raise the minimum monthly wage as proposed by the CLA when Taiwan's quarterly GDP expands over 3%in two straight quarters,or the unemployment rate drops to below 4%for two consecutive months.
Minister without portfolio Kuan Chung-ming,who was assigned to step in to argue for a compromised wage adjustment proposal,said he agreed to raise the hourly payment rate,since the majority of workers in Taiwan are not paid by the hour.
But Kuan refused to adjust minimum monthly wages,arguing that a hike in wages will discourage employers,mainly small-to medium-size businesses,from hiring more workers while the economy is set on a downturn,resulting in a deterioration of unemployment rates.
The protection of minimum wages has in fact caused the loss of many job opportunities,and thus relieving basic wage requirements may benefit both employers and workers,Kuan stated.
In response to a suggestion by some business tycoons that the minimum wage scheme should not extend coverage to include foreign workers,Premier Sean Chen said that the exclusion of foreign workers from basic wage requirements would need to be executed in accordance with relevant regulations and that Taiwan would have difficulty implementing such a policy at the moment.
But over the long term,Taiwan has to revise its minimum wage system,Chen stated.
There are a total of 440,000 foreign workers stationed in Taiwan currently,including 200,000 hired by the manufacturing sector,according to government data.A hike in minimum wages would also benefit those foreign workers.
