China Airlines Criticized for Raising Board Member Salaries|華航獨董調薪約6成 企業工會批"自肥"

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications has confirmed reports that China Airlines' board of directors adjusted the pay of independent board members beyond the upper limit allowed for enterprises with mixed public-private ownership, and it asked the board to reconsider this case. The China Airlines Employees Union points out that last year, the company cited operating difficulties in refusing to pay year-end bonuses. Now, it is raising the salaries for certain people in "black box negotiations"


The China Airlines Employees Union has described China Airlines' board of directors' decision to raise the salaries of independent board members by 60 percent as "black box negotiations." It says the union held discussions with management last year about giving year-end bonuses to employees. The company told the union that it would be operationally difficult to do so. Now, the board of directors is raising its own salaries.

What they told us grassroots employees was that salaries wouldn't be adjusted by very much because it was performing poorly as a result of operational difficulties. However, when it comes to raising their own salaries, they are using practically half of the same justification. They're saying, we're performing poorly but we are working really hard, we haven't adjusted salaries in many years, so let's increase our salaries.

The motion to increase the salaries was passed during the tenure of former Chairperson Ho Nuan-hsuan. The union says current Chairperson Hsieh Shih-chien should deal with this issue as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications confirmed that it recently received the minutes of China Airlines' board meeting, and the new salary for independent board members exceeded the upper monthly limit of NT$ 60,000 allowed for enterprises with mixed public-private ownership and is therefore non-compliant. As the ministry indirectly holds shares through the China Aviation Development Fund, it has asked the fund to send a written communication to the airline requesting it to rectify this case.

Perhaps China Airlines wasn't too clear on this issue, so they passed a resolution that appeared to be even higher. We are studying this situation, and asked them to review this case.

The ministry added the airline recently experienced a pilot strike, and adjusting the salaries of board members at this moment is inappropriate. In response, Hsieh said adjustments will be made based on provisions at the next board meeting. According to reports, China Airlines recently reminded the ministry that the salaries of Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation's independent board members are also quite high. In response, THSR Corporation issued a statement saying the remuneration for board members is calculated individually based on their participation rates and contributions and the board of directors consults standards in similar enterprises before paying them. However, the ministry still told the company to rectify the situation and last month it reduced the salaries to NT$ 60,000.



聽到華航董事會調整獨立董事薪酬的消息，調整幅度約60%，華航企業工會直言這是黑箱作業，工會表示，去年曾與資方協商，希望能照顧員工，將獲利反映在年終獎金上，公司卻回應，營運會有困難，沒想到董事會卻能「自肥」大幅度調整薪酬。

華航企業工會理事長 劉惠宗表示：「對我們基層大部分的員工，講的是說，因為營運困難績效不佳，所以說調薪不會太多，但是他們為他們自己加薪的時候，也用類似幾乎是一半相同的理由，是說營運不佳，但是我們很努力了，多年未調薪了，為自己加錢。」

由於調薪案是在前任董座何煖軒任內通過，工會向新任董座謝世謙喊話，應該要儘速處理。交通部證實，最近收到華航董事會會議紀錄，華航獨立董事薪酬調整後，確實超過公股民營事業規範的每月薪酬上限6萬元，的確不符合標準，因交通部是透過航發會間接持股，已經由航發會行文，要求華航改正。

交通部次長 王國材表示：「華航可能這方面不是那麼清楚，所以他們有通過一個，好像比這個還高的提案，我們現在有看這個情形，也請他們重新來檢討。」

交通部也認為，華航剛經歷機師罷工的勞資爭議，在這個時間點調整董事薪酬不恰當。對此，新任董座謝世謙回應，會依照規定，在下次董事會調回。另外，傳出華航日前還向交通部反應高鐵的獨立董事薪酬也很高，高鐵公司發表聲明，表示公司董事執行職務之報酬，是依照「個別董事」參與程度及貢獻價值，由董事會參考同業水準給付。不過在交部要求改正下，高鐵上月起已經將獨立董事月薪調降為6萬元。