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‘100,000 people’ to rally against Taiwan govt's treatment of civil servants
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Actors portraying President Tsai Ing-wen, left, and media pundits, right, pour ink over placards in Taipei, Thursday, Aug. 11 in a protest symbolizing what activists say are efforts to slander public servants. (The China Post/Stephanie Chao)
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ivil servants, who claim that they are being blamed for the Taiwanese government’s growing financial problems, will march in Taipei next month, with activists predicting that at least 100,000 people will take to the streets.
The protest is set for Aug. 3 - Armed Forces Day in Taiwan - and is being organised by the pension reform oversight alliance, a group set up in response to the formation of a National Pension Reform Committee.
The committee is tasked with slashing government pension spending and much of its focus has landed on the civil service.
Public servants have responded by claiming that the action represents unfair treatment.
Alliance representative Huang Yao-nan proposed that the national pension reform committee broadens its remit from focusing solely on the civil servant pension system to include private sector pensions as well as removing restrictions on labour-insured salary, and increasing wages, which is tied to the amount of insurance a labourer can receive.
Representatives said that pension reforms “go hand in hand” with the country’s fiscal discipline.
Deputy head of the military academy alumni association Wu Shih-huai, a representative of the alliance, said that civil servant pension funds were not included in the government’s potential monetary liabilities.
“The country’s possible bankruptcy could be caused by incompetent management of the pension funds,” Wu said, refuting claims that the bankruptcy was caused by civil servants receiving the pension.
“But, it’s something that the government is not willing to admit.”
National Civil Servant Association Director Lee Lai-hsi, an outspoken member of the National Pension Reform Committee, supported Wu and laid the on the government.
After eight committee meetings, the claim that the public sector was the main reason for the government’s debt problems has become a mainstream belief, Lee said.
He added that the claim was a source of pressure for civil servants, according to Lee.
Representatives of public school workers said that efforts to rally teachers were still underway and that momentum would likely pick up after the summer vacation. Labor workers are also expected to join in the protests as well.
