青年勞動九五聯盟 Youth Labor Union 95

AGAINST the Unreasonable Minimum Wage Policy in Taiwan

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In Taiwan, the minimum wage has not been raised ever since 1997.During the past ten years, the consumer price index has increased more than 8% and the GDP has increased more than 27%, whereas over 1,800,00 people are transformed into low-paid, unstable part-time labourers badly lack of legal protection. During the past two years, we have been strongly appealed Government to raise the minimum wage and change the inconsequent part-time workers policy.

Now that the Council of Labour Affairs (CLA) intends to change the minimum wage policy, but we contend that their draft proposal is UNACCEPTABLE due to following reasons:

1. The actual change is still too little to support a decent life.

CLA implied that the possible change would be between 7.5% ~ 9.5%, and this is definitely too little to adjust the increasing cost of living. The current minimum wage, which is 15,840 NTD per month, is hardly enough to support one person to live (In 2006, the average personal living expense is $17,083 per month). Thus we argue that the minimum wage should lift up 35%-40% so as to ensure the decency of labourers.

2. Part-time workers are still under deprivation.

The old rule of minimum hourly wage is divided by 240 hours from monthly minimum wage, which means that part-time labourers have to work eight hours per day and 30 days per month to earn as much as full-time workers. Such calculation not only causes unequal working condition between part-time and full-time labourers, but also allows enterprises to cut labour costs by largely hiring part-time workers. We hereby condemn that Taiwanese government violates "ILO C175 Part-time Work Convention":

Measures appropriate to national law and practice shall be taken to ensure that part-time workers do not, solely because they work part time, receive a basic wage which, calculated proportionately on an hourly, performance-related, or piece-rate basis, is lower than the basic wage of comparable full-time workers, calculated according to the same method. (Article 5)

As an important economic entity and a leading receiving country of immigrant workers in East Asia, the regulation of labour rights in Taiwan is intimately related to the fate of all labourers in the region. Please join us to demand Taiwanese government to change its unreasonable, illogical and inhuman minimum wage policy. STOP EXPLOITATION! ENOUGH LISTENING TO CAPITALISTS! GIVE WORKERS SUSTAINABLE MINIMUM WAGE!

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