Annual Minimum Wage Committee Meeting Put Off Until September 基本工資傳9月審議 勞資再上演角力戰

The minimum wage committee will convene in September. Taiwan's employers have long expressed hopes for the minimum wage to stay put as they are struggling with the pandemic while labor groups call for a "significant" increase citing reasons of strong exports. A lawmaker also points out that legalization and clear and transparent criteria are important so that discussions on minimum wage won't once again turn into a bargaining war between employers and labor groups.

The current minimum wage in Taiwan is NT$24,000 per month and NT$160 per hour. The annual minimum wage committee meeting has been pushed back to September because of the epidemic. Labor groups were sadden by the NT$2 increase in hourly minimum wage, despite the economy and exports both grew strongly in 2020.

Cheng Ya-hui, Secretary-General, Legislative Yuan Social Justice and Labor Policy Committee:”Taiwan's (economy) is "hot outside and cold inside" right now. (The government says domestic demand) will go up with the stimulus (vouchers), but these are separate issues. You can't say you're going to use vouchers to offset minimum wage (adjustments).”

Chiang Chien-hsing, Chair, Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions:”The minimum wage committee has no real status. It only exists because there's a law saying it should. If you want to elevate its legal status, you have to legislate that.” 

Labor groups blames the lack of legislation for lukewarm increases of minimum wages . A relatable draft bill was announced in November 2018, but no progress has been made ever since. Taiwan People's Party lawmakers are calling for the promulgation of the bill as soon as possible. One scholar says even a special law would not apply to everyone and issues including the inclusion of migrant workers, review benchmarks and economic indicators still need to be hashed out.

Hsin Ping-lung, Assoc. Prof., Dept. of Labor and Human Resources, CCU:”The number of dependents should be included in the law, along with a minimum threshold and economic benchmarks. The cost of living should be included as well.”

The scholar urges the transparency of the formulas for the minimum wages. The government should shoulder the responsibilities on the issue, instead of leaving labors and company owners having dogfights on the agenda.

目前基本工資，月薪2萬4000元、時薪160元，蔡英文政府2016年執政後，已連續5年調漲。不過，今年受疫情響應，原定8月召開，"基本工資審議委員會"，將延到9月。勞工團體抱怨，說去年受疫情影響，勞工應共體時艱，卻沒想到出口表現佳，去年經濟成長率飆高，但基本工資，談了四個小時，時薪卻只漲了2塊錢。 

立法院公義社會及勞動政策促進會秘書長 鄭雅慧：「台灣目前(景氣)是屬於外熱內冷，（內需經濟)紓困要振興的部份，我覺得是應該要把它切割開來，而不應該是說拿這個去擋基本工資（調漲）。」
全國產業總工會理事長江健興：「基本工資審議的辦法，它的位階太低了，它只是一個法規的命令，立法來提升它法律的位階。」

勞團認為就是因為"基本工資調漲"沒入法，導致最低工資"緩漲"，而"最低工資法"草案，2018年11月底，勞動部已完成公告，但仍停留在行政院，已近3年沒有進度。民眾黨立法院黨團呼籲，應儘速完成立法。不過，學者表示，訂定專法，恐怕也無法一體適用，包括"外籍移工"是否納入，以及審議標準，該納入哪些經濟數據指標，恐怕都需要討論。

文化大學勞動暨人力資源系副教授辛炳隆：「扶養人數把它入法，然後訂個下限經濟成長相關的指標要把它納進來，生活成本指數它比較能扣連到最低生活的保障這個目的。」

學者表示，最低工資法，目前政府有成立一個研究小組討論，但呼籲，如果有參照經濟數據，訂定的計算公式應該公開透明，另外，最低工資調漲，最後都會淪為勞資雙方喊價， 建議應由行政部門全權處理，漲與不漲，應負完全政治責任。