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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Government to axe holiday bonuses
Premier Lin Chuan talks to reporters in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA
HUGE SAVINGS: The bonus cut, which will not affect retired military personnel, will save the government about NT$870 million per year, a DPP caucus whip said
By Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter
Holiday benefit payments to retired civil servants, public-school teachers and political appointees who receive more than NT$25,000 in monthly pension payments are to be axed from next year, the Executive Yuan said yesterday.
Retired government and public-school employees used to receive NT$2,000 for the Lunar New Year, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays.
Starting next year, they will no longer receive NT$6,000 in annual holiday bonuses, Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） caucus whip Wu Ping-jui （吳秉叡） said after a lunch meeting yesterday with Premier Lin Chuan （林全）.
However, they will still receive a NT$2,000 bonus for next week’s Mid-Autumn Festival, Wu said.
The number of retired public employees eligible to holiday bonuses will decrease from 88,088 to 13,489, and the number of eligible retired public-school teachers will fall from 82,395 to 924, the Executive Yuan said.
A total of 33,760 people who worked as technicians, maintenance workers or drivers at government agencies or public schools will continue to receive the bonuses.
Without the reductions, the government would have had to pay NT$1.16 billion （US$37.08 million） in bonuses next year, Wu said, adding that the reductions would save the government about NT$870 million.
The cuts will not affect retired military personnel.
“The bonus cut is to bring the eligibility criteria for holiday bonuses in line with year-end bonus eligibility criteria,” Lin told reporters.
The Executive Yuan on Monday last week announced that retired civil servants, public-school teachers and military personnel who receive less than NT$25,000 in monthly pensions will be entitled to a year-end bonus.
Holiday bonuses used to be paid to retirees regardless of seniority and pension level, and the new adjustment is to unify the payment criteria, Lin said.
Asked about the cuts, Retired Civil Servants’ Friendship and Care Service chairman Huang Tai-sheng （黃臺生） said he could not speak on behalf of the group, because any comment he makes should be based on the opinions of all retired civil servants and education personnel.
Taiwan Education Retirees Association president Chen Mu-cheng （陳木城） said that many retired teachers and school principals no longer receive holiday bonuses.
Those who do include those who retired before 1970, families of public servants who died in service and low-income workers, Chen said.
However, these groups either received very little pension when they retired or are considered comparatively disadvantaged to the rest of society, Chen said.
That the government is seeking to save money by reducing holiday bonuses originally allocated for the disadvantaged is essentially sacrificing them to please blue-collar workers, he said.
While the cuts might not affect the lives of these families, the government’s action would escalate tensions between different social groups, he added.
Additional reporting by Wu Po-wei
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
